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Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Picc Line

I have been waiting for IV Rocephin for a long time, with that gut feeling that it would be the magical treatment. My Lyme literate doctor in the state finally started the Picc process and the Lyme Specialist in Vermont sped everything up.

Last Saturday I had my horse show, which was great until I got so tired that I don't even remember the end of the show, going home, or the whole battle with my eyes rolling back in my head and yet again being unable to talk or breath.

Monday I showed up at 9am at Concord Hospital for my Picc Line procedure. It started by wheeling me into the room (I couldn't walk again), changing into a johnny and preparing for the procedure. The whole procedure went like this: Sterilize ten times over, numbing shot which stung quite a bit and didn't even seem to work, going into a vein and stretching it out to find out that one wasn't going to work, going in for a second time and stretching it out which was the worst part of the whole procedure and I was lucky enough to get it twice in one arm, getting it in but it being coiled and not going down towards the heart, first exray: not in far enough, second exray: in too far, pull out 3 cm, third exray: PERFECT! Well it took long enough. 3 Hours and a sore jaw later I relaxed my tight muscles to feel the swelling and aching pain in my arm. I went straight home to put a heat pack on it and take ibuprofen and Tylenol which worked great. Then I was off to the Occupational Therapist who informed me I couldn't be treated until we had clearance from my doctor. The rest of the day I spent thinking about the painful procedure. It did not go as planned or expected and I would hate for someone else to not be aware that the 'little pinch' most people describe might not be the glorious silver lining you receive. What a tiring procedure.

I will receive 2 gm of IV Rocephin for about 30 minutes twice a day, for four days a week. This means every 12 hours (8 am and 8 pm) my mom will alcohol swab, flush with saline, swab again, attach antibiotics, swab again, flush again, and then we are done. Also once a week I will have to get blood drawn and have a nurse change the dressing to keep it clean and dry. That will probably be the one day I wrap it with saran wrap and tape to take a very delicate shower.

So hopefully this works, because if not this is quite the process and struggle. Off to try to upload videos on my you tube account from the horse show and my experiences with the tremors. Hope all other Lymies are getting well and resting up.

3 comments:

  1. How sick can you be if you were at 'your' horse show? Just wondered.

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    1. Well people who fight illness for 5 years have good days and bad days. you don't see all cancer patients laying in a bed every single day until they die, and its the same with me. I get worse on certain meds, and then I get better. The lyme lives a life cycle like any bacteria which makes my symptoms fluctuate, and I have missed horse shows on days where I could not move. On other days, I have been pushed around in a wheelchair just so that I don't fall into a state of depression and live a sheltered life like a hermit. My mothers support has been great to keep me active, and every truly sick person knows how important it is to have one thing to fight through every day for.

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  2. I have had Lyme for about 30 years and I have good and bad days as well. I hate questions like that. We all do the best we can. Not one person suffers more than another. We don't need to knock each other down to be king of the hill.

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