Day 2

Today I had my first visit from a nurse to clean the PICC line entrance and change the dressing.  We went over all the safety requirements, discussed all the procedures and I administered my own medication!  They system is much easier than I had seen in my research over the last several months.  The entire process from set up to completion is conducted in about 10 minutes.  Far better than I expected.  My line gets cleaned with an alcohol rub, then flushed with Saline, cleaned again, inject 2 gm Ceftriaxone (Rocephin) mixture over a 3 to 5 minute time period, clean, flush with Saline again, clean, flush with Heparin solution.  The Heparin is a very mild blood thinner used to keep the line from clotting and to ensure ease of circulation of the drug.  It is about the equivalent of a baby aspirin in regards to it's thinning properties.  Eric put an extension on my line so I can hold the port in my left hand while performing each of the steps.  There is a sleeve that is made of a material like a shower cap that has elastic at both ends that I can slip over my arm to take a shower.

I'm very pleased with the apparent ease and convenience of my procedures.  I had some slight discomfort last night due to a little soreness at the line entrance in my arm.  Tonight that's all gone.  Thus far I have not experienced any of the side effects that are listed as possibilities for the drug.  Some of those listed are nausea, vomiting, itching, soreness, lack of appetite (good luck drug, not here!!), diarrhea, on and on.  I'd just be happy if they all go somewhere else.  Not welcome here.  I'm eating my pro-biotic yogurt for desert after dinner.

Oh well, enough for today.  Just let the boat stay it's course and I'll be a happy camper.  I'm told I should feel some improvement within a week.  I told Casey I'd hold her to it.  Once again I can't say enough for all of the professional folks I've encountered from the Pinnacle group through this experience.  My CRNP (Casey), Amber in Triage, the entire office staff, all the nurses at Harrisburg Hospital who tolerated my antics, particularly Rita, who squirt my blood on my RL Polo shirt and then cleaned it out impeccably, Michell, who installed my PICC and shared Monty Python tales with me and advised me of some new (old) British humour, to Eric, the first visitor from Horizon that explained everything about my procedures and put me at ease. 

Signing out, gotta go make some limeade...

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