Thursday, April 8, 2021

PICC line has safely landed in my veins

 Today I got a ride to the U-WA Medical Center, Special Procedures Unit. It turned out to be the same unit where I recovered for 4 hours from the abdominal mass biopsy but besides a very pretty handmade vase, I saw nothing or no one I recognized.

The procedure was quick but had a big buildup: a half hour for set up, less than 10 minutes for the procedure. What happens to all the plastic and medical waste? Is it all landfill? Julie got a bagel last week at the "bistro" at SCCA and the napkin they gave her was wrapped in plastic. Why? Ridiculous!

Now I have some pain whenever I move my (right) arm. Is it the tape or the plastic or what? But the insertion was pretty painless. The nurse was guided by an ultrasound machine called "Sherlock" and she liked my veins (the nurse, not the machine). The biggest problem was Sherlock was apparently built for men's voices and she would have to repeat her request 2 or 3 times. Finally, when there was no response, she had me press the buzzer to call another nurse in to manually do what she requested. The nurse had never done it and was very hesitant, afraid she might press the wrong icon on the machine. I wanted her to speak in a deeper voice but I kept quiet. I wanted her to call it Alexa and see if it responded.



The biggest puzzler is why I get the PICC line out after the treatment tomorrow and then have to get a port. It made no sense to me but even more importantly, it made no sense to the 3 nurses with whom I have talked about it. 

It was so nice to get home and take a nap! I paid for a six pass to the SIFF, Seattle International Film Festival, so I have that to look forward to for the next 10 days.


1 comment:

  1. It's all a lot to digest. . . I look up to you Carla you are are definitely my super woman.!

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