PICC Lines | Pick your PICC Lines.

This was a week of picc lines. (Incidentally, I should be grateful. Having a picc line with a good source of milrinone does make me feel better. So, being connected to a tube full time is not that bad.) I went in to the hospital on Monday because the area where my original picc in my right arm that I received 6 weeks ago was becoming irritated and red. We don’t want an infection so we decided to pull the picc and put a new one in my left arm. Only this time, I was not sedated like last time so I do remember the experience. Most adults aren’t sedated. But, I’m sort of a baby when it comes to needles and wires being thread through my veins so I usually beg for it. But, I manned up and went for it without sedation. We did the procedure in the cath lab. Needless, to say they gave me several shots that numb the skin before inserting the wiring and eventual picc. Like at the dentist when he numbs your gums before he drills. It wasn’t that bad. I went home 30 minutes later. Of course, my wife heard me say the whole ride home, “That wasn’t fun.” Oh well, I was happy to be home. After a few hours we noticed the leaking, slow leaking watery substance coming from where the picc was inserted. My wife, who is my home-health care nurse (lucky me), ended up changing the dressing over the next few days 6 times because of the leaking until yesterday I went in and had that picc removed and a new one placed in my right arm above my elbow where the original one was. Needless to say, the big needle wasn’t that bad and I made it home to watch the University of Utah destroy Alabama in a much-deserved BCS bowl. Let’s just hope this new picc doesn’t leak either. It’s only been a little more than 12 hours.

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A PICC is a long, thin, flexible tube known as a catheter. It is inserted into one of the large veins of the arm near the bend of the elbow. It is then slid into the vein until the tip sits in a large vein just above the heart.

The space in the middle of the tube is called the lumen. Sometimes the tube has two or three lumens (known as double or triple lumen). This allows different treatments to be given at the same time. At the end of the tube outside the body, each lumen has a special cap, to which a drip line or syringe can be attached. Sometimes there is a clamp to keep the tube closed when it is not in use.

106 days on the list. 15 weeks. All is Well.

106 days on the list. 15 weeks. Any predictions?

Despite the minor physical anxieties of waiting for a heart, always wearing oxygen, taking a bazillion pills, giving myself shots twice a day, and carrying around a bag of medication going directly into a permanent IV in my right arm, I have the larger anxieties experienced by those who are sick for a long time and happily married. Keep in mind that I am too tired to stay busy so all you have to do all day is think and reflect. Above all, you hope your wife, the love of your life, is happy, fulfilled, and appreciated because of her sacrifice, service, and love.

My dad is a journalist and once interviewed one of my hero's Howard Hunter, a former spiritual leader of the LDS church and community giant. The man was soft spoken and humble despite his enormous list of credentials and accomplishments. In the interview my dad asked about all the years that Pres. Hunter tenderly cared for his sick wife who later died in a rest home. "How where you able to do that all those years?" my dad asked. President Hunter with some emotion and pause in his voice said, "She would of done the same thing for me."

I'm also reminded of another time that I was at Bryner Clinic in Salt Lake to see my family doctor. While waiting I observed a feeble old woman waiting for the pharmacist to complete her prescription. She was with her husband. They were both very old, petite and weak. She sat in a wheel chair and was so tired that her head kept falling backward. And I watched this husband, who stood by her side, hold her head up, even though his hands shook and they had to wait for some time. I think he held her head for 20 minutes.

I also remember while serving a mission for my LDS church I was responsible for several missionaries of which were an old couple serving in a small mining town in California. Like all of our missionaries they were responsible to knock on doors and share a message of love about Jesus Christ. The wife had really bad arthritis and knees. At many times she couldn't use her legs because of the pain. But, she didn't want to give up. Her husband drove them in the car from house to house. He would get out and knock on the door while his wife waited. If people said yes to letting them he'd go to the car, open the door, pick up his wife and carry her into the home so they could do what they loved to do most which was bring hope to people through their message.

These several experiences that I observed are always on my mind. And I hope I get the chance to show the same expression of love and service for my wife who has so kindly sacrificed, served, and loved me through this experience. It is much easier to serve than to be served.

Getting Out!

I was finally able to get out and do something other than travel to a hospital which felt really good. I went and voted early and then hit the drive through of "Crown Burger" with a friend. In addition, I went with my wife and daughter to my sister's home so Eden could trick or treat with her cousins. For a little girl who is always wearing princess dress ups she wanted to go as a spider. It was cute.

I saw my cardiologist Angela Yetman today and things looked stable. I'm giving myself lovanox shots twice a day to help me absorb protein.

I'm wearing oxygen 24/7 at 3 liters and I carry around the milrinone medication pumping into my arm through my picc line (there are 2 pictures to the right of the picc).

It is difficult to shower. But, I am grateful that these things are giving me more time while we wait for my heart.

Incidentally, I was moved up on the list to a status 1B. What does that mean? You're either a status 7, status 2, status 1B, or status 1A (I guess because they can't count from 1 to 4). To my understanding, and I might be wrong, a 7 is a person who has a hard time qualifying for a heart because of other disease, infection, weight, and more. A 2 is a person who needs a heart but they're at home and able to go to work or they are somewhat stable at home. A 1-B is in and out of the hospital, receiving medication through a picc full time, and other difficult issues. The 1-A's are in the hospital and don't have vey long. So, it certainly is an unusual situation because there are plenty of people who need a transplant of some kind. There is a great web-site with data about the list and those waiting or donating. CLICK HERE