PICC VS Port

[Margaret Mueller]

I am meeting with my primary doctor Monday with a precription for a PICC line.

A friend who has had two forms of cancer, and has had two PICC lines and a port suggested I ask for a port because it is a lot less trouble. She said that the port is less prone to infection, easier to bathe/shower with, lasts longer, and doesn't get in the way as much.

My concerns are: the infection issue, the way a picc V. a port might interfere or make impossible for me to continue my physical therapy for my shoulders, and what, if any other considerations I don't know about at all about picc V. port that you may know from experience.

I also am so phobic of needles that I take two Xanac for a blood draw. It's not the stick, it's the feeling of the needle in the vein that freaks me out. Will that constant feeling be a feature of one or both of these options?

Thanks for any experience and/or wisdom you can offer me.

Margaret

[Parisa]

Hi Margaret,

My husband had a Groshong central line for almost two years.  If you were only going to do IV antibiotics for a month or so, I would do a PICC otherwise go for either a Port or a Groshong central line.  Considering your fear of needles I think the Groshong would be better as the port has to accessed with a needle – of course, the benefit of the port is that if you are pulsing the IVs you could deaccess the port and since it is under the skin you could swim or bathe freely.  Neither the central line or port should interefere with your should movements.  My husband was fairly squeamish about the idea of having the central line but it soon became second nature.

[Margaret Mueller]

I have no clue, is a Gershong the same as a central line?  What is a Gershong, and what is a central line?

I am supposed to do 7 days on/3 weeks off for IV clindamycin for six or eight rounds, the brain is fuzzy…on how many times, I remember thinking this is 26 weeks, but I have nothing in writing.  I retain what I read, not what I hear.

The other consideration is waiting on lyme tests, and not knowing if it's positive, and if it would involve any IV treatment overlapping.

[Kim]

Margaret,

One thing to consider is the scarring factor for SD people.  Some have reported real problems when removing them and instead of it being a simple procedure it required a real surgery to cut them out.  Are you producing an excess of collagen right now?

I am needle-phobic too because for years I've had such thick blood and thickened veins that every draw was a nightmare.  My doc gave me Lidocaine cream (rx) that helps numb the site prior to the stick which really helps.  You might just want to wait until the results of your Lyme test and see which way you'll go.  My LLMD doesn't use IVs unless all else fails with the orals, but each doctor will have their own preference.

Take care….kim

[Margaret Mueller]

Scarring wasn't something I've thought about at all.  I don't think I'm producing very much collagen at all.  I was in such an early stage when I started with Dr.F last July, that I had hardly anything going on.  Sometimes I wonder if I wasn't misdiagnosed.  I do show mycocplasma, though, so it's there.

I want to get the right thing done that will be the most successful for me.  I don't know for sure what that looks like.  So, I need your thoughts.  Thanks.

[Margaret Mueller]

Saw my PCP Monday.  She is of the opinion that my veins are so lousy that I'm not a candidate for a straight IV, PICC or port. She initially thought the order was for four days, and was reluctantly going to sign it, but I pointed out it is for twenty weeks and she shut down.  She thinks there are too many likely complications that would effect my quality of life, and that I'm too healthy for that risk. 

I asked her what other forms clindamycin is delivered.  Is there any point in that or is IV the only way to be effective for us?

I'm trying to get into see a hematologist on a consult to see if her opinion is different and if she'd do it.  I guess the 'last ditch' is getting it done in Riverside.

Dr. F's office staff said to just start the oral again.  I tried to get them to give me a prescription for a lower dose so I could get used to it, then ramp up again.  He's out of town.

Does everyone do long rounds of IV clindy — 7 days, three weeks off, five or six rotations?  Does everyone get a PICC?  What do other folks do?

Still don't have my Igenex labs back.

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