So the Doc got the tissue expander advanced and put in another tissue expander in my neck but when he went to go work on my right axilla (right armpit) he opened it up to a MASSIVE wound of thick and tangled and nasty scar tissue along with some fatty tissue as I haven't been able to exactly do any exercising on that arm with the limited mobility I had in it. So he decided to just do the one arm and put cadaver skin on it for a little while and go in for a second surgery and replace it with autograft, which is my own skin.
So my 25 surgery did not go as well as had hoped and led to a 26th surgery sooner than planned. Surgery 26 came along on Friday and went well. Fortunately this time, they had successfully gotten a PICC line in me on thursday so no IV was needed thankfully because of the PICC line. For those of you who may be wondering, "what is a PICC line?" A PICC line is a Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter. It is a long, slender and flexible tube that is inserted into peripheral vein (usually the upper arm) and then advanced until the tip of the line "terminates" into a large vein in the chest near the heart allowing for intravenous access. A PICC line can stay in the body for up to 7 days, sometimes longer whereas an IV usually needs to be changed every 3 days and for someone like myself where it is nearly impossible to get in an IV and whose IV's often "blow", a PICC line is most advantageous.
I came out of surgery #26 with flying colors but unfortunately in a cast/splint like thing on my right arm so I had to do everything one handed...that was more than a little annoying. Wednesday came around and I finally got my dressings taken down and was discharged that very day. But boy let me tell you I was wiping tears from my face as they took down my dressings because it hurt so bad despite how gentle they were being. Taking down the donor dressings and all the staples were blinding my eyes with tears. Then they had to redress me so I could go home, but that didn't hurt as bad.
So we made it over the over the mountains with dry roads. Now I'm trying to adjust to being back at home. Those of you who have been in the hospital for awhile and finally get to come home know that it can be kinda hard to readjust to being back home.
5 comments:
I know what a PICC line is because I had one put in, but some of your readers may not know what that is. You might want to give a brief definition. :-) Just a thought.
Thanks April. I edited it and defined what a PICC line is.
Thanks for the additional information about PICC lines. When I had mine put in I was told it was good for a month! Now you've got me wondering if that's the case. Perhaps some PICC lines can be left in longer?
I googled PICC line and this is what it said about length of time it can be left in: "PICC lines generally will remain in place no longer than 30 days, although duration of use varies from just a few days in patients requiring short courses of chemotherapy or biotherapy to a year for patients requiring longer treatment. Commonly, other forms of intravenous access are considered if the treatment course is protracted. While replacement is generally considered a year post-insertion, patients have survived with the same PICC in situ for several years without complication."
Hmmm...that's got me wondering considering I asked the actual IV therapy team how long mine could stay in and they said about 7 days. so perhaps some PICC lines are different than others depending on where they were inserted or where the tip of the PICC is at?
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