Saturday 28 September 2013

More fun with my PICC line

Ahead of last weeks chemotherapy I had to have a new PICC line inserted into my arm. Normally a PICC line is held in place with a dressing could a 'stat lock', but the skin on my arms has become sensitive to sticky dressings of any sort and I get an itchy, blistery reaction to them now. The previous PICC line, the one that seems to have caused my recent infection, had been stitched directly into my arm to hold it in place. The problem with stitching the PICC line in however is that it makes it difficult to clean the skin around the area properly, something that might increase the risk of another infection. This time around I decided that I would revert to using a 'stat lock' but that I'd have a layer of 'liquid skin' applied to my arm first so that the adhesive of the dressing wouldn't be in direct contact with my arm. I went ahead and had the PICC line fitted in this way a week and a half ago, unfortunately by Wednesday night this week it was clear that my skin was still unhappy with the adhesive and yesterday I had to go back to the hospital and have the PICC line stitched in place. Not an ideal situation but it'll have to do for now!
 
My most recent treatment cycle is going well and the side effects have been quite manageable, a little extra fatigue being the most persistent of them but that has decreased somewhat in the last couple of days. 
 
This is a great time of year for fungi, I like this shot that I got last week:
 
 
   
 
 

2 comments:

  1. Hi Paul, I'm a member of the ACOR list and I enjoy reading your blog. Sorry to hear about the PICC line problems. Hope it's OK now that it's stitched. I'm also allergic to adhesives. What I've used when needing a dressing that holds things in place is Mepilex soft silicone dressings. They are like big bandages and are made for people who are allergic to adhesives. They are the only thing that keeps my skin from rashes and peeling off. I have to remind the nurses to use the Mepilex--maybe you could ask your nurses to use them too. All best, Christy

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  2. Hi Christy, many thanks for this suggestion however I've tried a couple of the Mepilex dressings before but unfortunately they just don't seem to work for me. I think my problem is that I don't have an allergy as such but rather the skin of my arms where the PICC line is has become ultra sensitive to the point where almost anything seems to set it off. Hope all is well with you and thanks again for taking the time to share your experience. Paul.

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