Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwch! That hurts!

I guess going to the Medical Center every other week isn't enough for me, so I took a trip there today...

My upper arm has been bothering me since I had my PICC line installed just over a week ago. It's been a dull but constant pain increasing each day and although I could deal with it if I had to, it still hurt. It wasn't so fun to sleep with it either.

I didn't want to call in cause I was afraid of what they would say... like maybe "come in, we might have to take it out." But I thought, it probably shouldn't be feeling worse than when they put it in, so I called. They said "Come in, let us check it out. It's probably just an irritation in your vein, but we want to make sure there aren't any blood clots."

I went right in, got there about 12:45. Dr Azar said she could see some redness and that it shouldn't be hurting. She (and nurse Julie) ordered an ultrasound. Julie really worked some magic cause they said they didn't have an appointment until 3:30pm and when I went down to Radiology, they said they didn't have anything open until the 9th! But it all got straightened out and I was seen by 2pm.

It was coming up to 4 o'clock and I had to head out for a Parent Council Meeting at Darren's school, so I asked if they could change my dressing and I could check back for results. We optimistically hoped that no news was good news. Julie tracked down Dr Azar just before I was getting ready to leave and just AFTER Lisa had changed my dressing.

Results....
Apparently I was starting to get blood clots (not a good thing) and they had to pull the line. Argh... I just smiled and said "okay". Ya have to do what you have to do right? Dr Azar said I might need to get another Central Line (in my chest). I just am not sure how I feel about it. It seemed a bit easier than the PICC as I had an extra hand to use... but it's surgery.... and a $100 co-pay vs the $20 co-pay for the PICC line! But a PICC line in my right arm? That doesn't sound so fun either. Awe, whatever. For now, I have to take aspirin once a day until I hear back from Oncology. They will let me know what I am scheduled for.

Good news! No co-pay today! Yay!

Ouch that hurt.... AGAIN!

I was sooooooo nervous and scared about today. It's been on my mind all week and I don't know what I was so stressed about. I guess the thought of going in for a new line almost made it feel like I was starting all over again. I know I'm not, but my mind must be playing tricks on me. Either way, today didn't go as well as it could have, but I came out okay after all was said and done.

I went in for the procedure to install a PICC line in my arm to replace my central line that was in my chest. (These are the ports where I receive my chemotherapy - but my central line came out last week). Today's procedure was not considered a surgery and a nurse was able to perform the install. It reminded me a lot of the surgery I had for the first one and in case you don't remember how well that went (not) - then here's a link to that blog entry -Minor complications... Ouch! That hurts!

Here's what happened...

I went in at 1pm and didn't have to do anything really to prep for it except have breakfast and lunch and be hydrated. Easy enough. They used a sterile procedure so I was all covered with those blue drapes - three of them. My left arm was extended out so that the nurse could poke at me like they do when they give you an IV. Then she administered some numbing agent - which felt like itty bitty bee stings over and over. After that she pushed the PICC line tube through my arm and I could feel it go up towards my shoulder - not so much painful as a weird feeling. And then the line went towards my neck and kept getting "stuck" on something (that kinda hurt). She had to call another nurse in. They pulled it out and pushed it back in, and pulled it out and pushed it back in. This took at least an hour until one of the nurses thought they got it where they wanted it to be. The first nurse wasn't as sure of it.

I went for an X-Ray which confirmed - it didn't go right. The line went towards my other shoulder instead of down to my heart. Sound familiar? A repeat of my first surgery. So I had to go back and have them wiggle the wire in and out again. This time it really hurt. The numbing agent was wearing off and my arm was bruised and hurting where the line went in - right at the crease of it. My platelets are low, so the nurse said that affected the bleeding (increasing it a bit) - and so she applied a LOT of pressure too. I felt like crying and I swear I had tears in my eyes, but I didn't cry. I just said "ouch and owwwwwwwch" a lot.

I have a dressing that completely covers about 10 inches of my arm. Tomorrow I will go in for my 9th chemo and they should change it. We'll see if it's as.... as big then.

I'm so tired, I could have slept at the dinner table - so I think I'm going to bed now. Just thought I'd give a quick update.


My numbers -

		Range
	Actual	Low	High
WBC	3.0	3.5	11.0
HGB	12.3	12.0	16.0
HCT	38.8	34.0	47.0
Platelets	140	150.0	450.0
Neutrophils	0.7	1.5	7.5