Infusion Center: Services
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What services does the Infusion Center provide?
The Infusion Center at Eastern provides various services, including, but not limited to, the following:
- Pre-medications (e.g., anti-nausea, anti-inflammatory, diphendydramine, antiemetics)
- Chemotherapy medications
- General IV fluids
- Antibiotics
- Blood products
- Total parenteral nutrition (TPN)
- Pain medication
Who visits the Infusion Center?
According to Rudzinski, each day between Monday and Friday, about 23 outpatients on average visit the Infusion Center at Eastern. Depending on their treatment schedule, a handful of patients also visit the center on the weekends. Patients admitted to the hospital receive their chemotherapy in their hospital room by chemotherapy-certified nurses.
The Infusion Center administers treatment for all cancer types and stages. Some of the more common types are tumors of the breast, lung, pancreas, liver, colon, and bone and soft tissue. In addition, many patients who visit the center are dealing with advanced stage cancer.
When can you visit the Infusion Center?
Like many others, you may be dealing with family obligations, a full-time job, or other responsibilities while fighting cancer. Your infusion center nurses will accommodate your schedule, not the hospital’s schedule.
While many infusion centers are only open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Eastern’s Infusion Center is open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on the weekends. This means you can receive your chemotherapy at your convenience. For example, if you are concerned about missing work during the week, you could come in on Saturday for your chemotherapy treatment.
The flexible schedule also means you don’t have to wait to start a new chemotherapy cycle. At Eastern’s Infusion Center, you can generally start a new treatment any day of the week. In other words, you could begin a five-day cycle on Wednesday and finish it over the weekend, instead of waiting until the following Monday to get started.
The convenience and accessibility of the Infusion Center allow us to accommodate your needs. And, as the hospital expands and patient needs increase, the Infusion Center plans to eventually stay open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.