- Thread starter
- #261
SheriM
Lovin' The Homestead
Well, I'll have to do them for a few more days anyway but eventually it will be just the oral stuff.Ldychef2k said:
SheriM - Too Stubborn to Stop Dreamin' - SURPRISE!!!
- Thread starter SheriM
- Start date
lupinfarm
Almost Self-Reliant
All cancer is a battle, but I think you will be stronger for it! ...
FarmerDenise
Out to pasture
Dang. it sounds bad no matter what. I haven't had insurance since 2000. so I don't really know what is going on with me. I have had lumps grow and then they shrunk. some days I worry most days I just dont think about it. At least you have medical care. I hope it all goes well 
reinbeau
Moderator Extraordinaire
Yikes! Denise, I do hope those lumps are something like fibercystic breast disease, both my mother and my sister has that, the lumps are always benign - but they can get them checked! Please take care of yourself - there isn't a clinic nearby you can use?
Sheri, do you not use a saline flush followed by heparin (the blood thinner)? I had to do that each time. Saline first, then the antibiotic, then saline to clear the line again, then heparin. It's not the same as the blood thinner given typically, but specifically for PICC lines. I have absolutely no idea if it would be appropriate for your treatment, but it worked well for me - although it did mess with my period (yes, at 53, I'm still getting a regular period!!).
Sheri, do you not use a saline flush followed by heparin (the blood thinner)? I had to do that each time. Saline first, then the antibiotic, then saline to clear the line again, then heparin. It's not the same as the blood thinner given typically, but specifically for PICC lines. I have absolutely no idea if it would be appropriate for your treatment, but it worked well for me - although it did mess with my period (yes, at 53, I'm still getting a regular period!!).
- Thread starter
- #265
SheriM
Lovin' The Homestead
I'm not on heparin, I'm on Enoxaparin, which is injected subcuatenously into the fatty tissue of the abdomen. Luckily, I've got lots of fatty tissue there!reinbeau said:Yikes! Denise, I do hope those lumps are something like fibercystic breast disease, both my mother and my sister has that, the lumps are always benign - but they can get them checked! Please take care of yourself - there isn't a clinic nearby you can use?
Sheri, do you not use a saline flush followed by heparin (the blood thinner)? I had to do that each time. Saline first, then the antibiotic, then saline to clear the line again, then heparin. It's not the same as the blood thinner given typically, but specifically for PICC lines. I have absolutely no idea if it would be appropriate for your treatment, but it worked well for me - although it did mess with my period (yes, at 53, I'm still getting a regular period!!).
Orally, I'm on Warfarin...yes, rat poison! Did you administer the heparin yourself or did you have to go to a clinic? If the latter, maybe that's why my doctor opted for the Enoxaparin, since I'm half an hour away from the clinic.Denise, I agree with Reinbeau, there must be a free clinic somewhere nearby. Don't leave it. Please!
- Thread starter
- #266
SheriM
Lovin' The Homestead
Of that, I am absolutely certain! Since this whole thing started, I have found an inner strength far beyond anything I would have expected.lupinfarm said:
TanksHill
Super Self-Sufficient
Sheri hang tough, we are all here rooting for you and having positive thoughts. Glad it was just the pic line and they got things straightened out. My mother did the Warfarin for a while after a stroke. She couldn't believe they were giving her rat poison either.
Be strong..
Be strong..
reinbeau
Moderator Extraordinaire
No, I gave it to myself, it was part of the IV protocol, every day. It was supposed to be a variant form of heparin made specifically for this use and it wasn't supposed to do anything but sit in the PICC line and prevent clotting, but it definitely did affect my period - made it thinner and much more than usual.SheriM said:I'm not on heparin, I'm on Enoxaparin, which is injected subcuatenously into the fatty tissue of the abdomen. Luckily, I've got lots of fatty tissue there!
Anyways, it was delivered in syringes that hooked right up to the PICC line, same as the saline. It was more like working plumbing than working an IV line, it was easy to deal with. Are you giving yourself your meds, or do they come out? I did have a nurse come once a week to change the dressing, take blood, etc. The line came out this past Monday, now it's just a wait and see if it worked (Lyme is tricky, depends on whether or not we caught it in time).
- Thread starter
- #269
SheriM
Lovin' The Homestead
Ann, before the DVT developed, I was going in once a week to the clinic to have the PICC line flushed and the dressing changed, but I had to go in anyway for blood work, so it worked out okay. Now, I give myself the shot of Noxoparin in the abdomen and the rest of the meds are oral. I haven't had to touch the PICC line myself. I wonder if they'd let me do the Heparin. I wouldn't have any trouble doing that, assuming the line is working that is.
When the line was blocked, they put in something called Cathflow, that sat in the line for half an hour, then was withdrawn and the line was flushed several times. It did make a difference for one of the lines, but the other one is still very slow when they try to take blood from it. They can put stuff in just fine but can't get blood out. They think maybe a small flap has formed at the end of the line, acting like a trap door or one way valve.
BTW, what was involved in removing the line? The whole experience putting it in was a nightmare (see previous post farther back in my journal) and I'm now a little leery of what it's going to be like when the time comes to take it out.
When the line was blocked, they put in something called Cathflow, that sat in the line for half an hour, then was withdrawn and the line was flushed several times. It did make a difference for one of the lines, but the other one is still very slow when they try to take blood from it. They can put stuff in just fine but can't get blood out. They think maybe a small flap has formed at the end of the line, acting like a trap door or one way valve.
BTW, what was involved in removing the line? The whole experience putting it in was a nightmare (see previous post farther back in my journal) and I'm now a little leery of what it's going to be like when the time comes to take it out.
reinbeau
Moderator Extraordinaire
Gee, Sheri, I don't have your vein issues (that's just awful)....when they put the line in I was in the hospital with a regular IV in, so I told them I was scared (I'm a wimp when it comes to needles, isn't that a great way to be when you're hospitalized??) and they gave me Atavan in the IV, so I was nice and calm, and watched them do the whole thing on the ultrasound screen. It wasn't bad at all, but scary. To take it out was even easier, I didn't even realize she was removing it, I thought she was still fiddling with the dressing! It really doesn't hurt at all to get it out, took about five seconds. Obviously your experiences are a lot different than mine, the blood draw was great from the line, which I guess isn't always true, but it worked well for me.
The heparin just sat in the line until the next time I used it, it was the last thing in, and then with the next IV it was the first thing pushed out into my system by the initial saline flush. I only had it in for 4 1/2 weeks, though, yours is a much longer term install - but I know that Lyme sufferers who have long-term IVs use the same process that I was prescribed.
Edited to fix my awful transposition of you're/your - I can't believe I did that! Posting in the early morning before
The heparin just sat in the line until the next time I used it, it was the last thing in, and then with the next IV it was the first thing pushed out into my system by the initial saline flush. I only had it in for 4 1/2 weeks, though, yours is a much longer term install - but I know that Lyme sufferers who have long-term IVs use the same process that I was prescribed.
Edited to fix my awful transposition of you're/your - I can't believe I did that! Posting in the early morning before
