First day IV treatment / Ports & PICCs

As many of you know from my fb updates, I was kinda scared and anxious about having a port catheter placed on my chest scheduled for last Thursday... In medicine, a port (or portacath) is a small medical appliance that is installed beneath the skin. A catheter connects the port to a vein. Under the skin, the port has a septum through which drugs can be injected and blood samples can be drawn many times, usually with less discomfort for the patient than a more typical "needle stick". The port is usually inserted in the upper chest, just below the clavicle or collar bone, leaving the patient's hands free. That is why I was convinced to have this instead of a PICC line... A peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC or PIC line)  is a form of intravenous access that can be used for a prolonged period of time (e.g. for long chemotherapy regimens, extended antibiotic therapy, or total parenteral nutrition). First described in 1975, it is an alternative to subclavian lines, internal jugular lines or femoral lines which have higher rates of infection.

I had a PICC line last March for 10 days, because I had to have a series of infusions with Dioxychlor, as part of the stem-cell treatment protocol! It was placed right on the joint so it was very uncomfortabe... Remembering that, I agreed to have the chest port this time, even though I had "chills" only with the thought of it sticking out of my skinny chest...:(

Well, luckily this skinny chest "saved" me for now. When the doctor who was going to place the port saw me, he insisted on placing a PICC instead, because the port would be very painful for me.. So we've decided to have the PICC, place it higher on my arm so I can bend it and move it without problems, and IF in the future a chest port is needed we'll see... One day at a time....and now it was only PICC time day!

The procedure took place in an O.R., under an ultrasound/x-ray machine so the doc could see exactly what he was doing, it did not hurt at all and was done in about 20 minutes. I felt very comfortable, as the doc was talking to me the whole time, making jokes with the nurses and arguing with them about the music in the room :) Before I knew it the PICC line was all ready in my left arm. So now I was ready for the next step...the infusion of antibiotics!

According to my new protocol, I am supposed to infuse 2grams of Rocephin a day. On the first day, this infusion should happen in a hospital, in case I had allergies to the drug or other complications. Therefore since my doctor (well, one of them actually) is a Director in the Naval Hospital, my parents and I woke up early in the morning today and drove aaaall the way to the Naval Hospital...A 3-4 minute drive from our house!!!! Funny I know, but I can't walk this distance anymore, so the car was necessary even for these 4 minutes...:(

I can't complain, everyone there was very polite and nice to me. I sat comfortably on a bed, the doctor did a test-infusion first with a small quantity of the drug and right after that, the infusion started. It was planned for 30 minutes, but lasted around 40, because it was the first time and the doctor preferred to take it slower for safety. I didn't feel anything, in fact I think I even took a nap. When the infusion ended, the doctor came by to put an anti-clogging drug (heparin) in my PICC, so I would be nice and ready for the next infusion tomorrow...And the shock began!!!...As he infused the drug fast in my vein I suddenly felt like the drug was coming out of my mouth, my eyes, my nose...My heart felt frozen and painful, and my WHOLE body felt numb! My lips felt so numb I couldn't speak, I couldn't breath, and I started to shake!! It was the first time in my life I felt I was dying! This lasted for a few minutes, the doc was next to me asking me what was wrong (as he told me later all my vitals were normal, heart rate, etc) because he could not understand why I was like this, I couldn't speak-I was just yelling noises, and I wanted to punch him so he would stop asking!!!!!! What a friggin shock....It took me a while to relax and stop shaking! Then he said that he didn't actually use heparin but another "better" stuff, and maybe because it was cold and entered my bloodstream rapidly, I felt what I felt!!!!.....I was mad, but also wanted to leave the hospital and go back home asap, so I didn't continue the conversation. I just hope that this will not happen again, because it was the scariest experience ever...and u know, I don't get easily scared anymore;)

However, after a 3 hour sleep, a nice meal, some cake and a lot of Pepe, I felt much better! Overall it went good. I'm happy that (at least for now) my body "accepted" the Rocephin antibiotic, my current #1 weapon to continue the battle. So, I hope it goes better tomorrow and I leave you now with some photos from today, taken after the hospital (so excuse my "look"... LOL!).

New PICC line

I always feel like somebody's watching meeeee :)

Kiss me kiss me c'mon

The best psychiatrist's name is Pepe:)