The following Entry contains graphic pictures of a port infection & the healing process....
December 28,2013
Cindy:
After a pretty stressful night of doctors, nurses, techs and a lack of sleep. A gurney arrived promptly at 6am to take my mother to have a port placed or so we thought.. Because at around 730am a bunch of student doctors who were rounding asked me where my mother was and when I told them just that, they proceeded to explain to me how that procedure had been cancelled and she was now on the schedule to have a picc line placed at 11. Which would have been fine except that she still hadn't been brought back to the room. Imagine our surprise when an hour later here she's wheeled back in and the port is what they had finally decided on.
The port was surgically placed and took about 6 weeks to not feel pain every time her needle was changed.
February 18, 2013
The part that sucks is about 10 weeks in, she developed an infection at her port site requiring the port to be removed to prevent a blood infection from occurring.
I took her to the hospital where they saw her in IR {Interventional Radiology} from the minute we met Dr.H I knew I liked him, a young handsome man in his mid-thirties he was the 3rd doctor since all of this had started that had taken the time to treat my mother like a person, talking to her instead of at her. Realizing he was also middle-eastern like my mom he spoke to her in arabic which seemed to put her at ease. He explained we had two choices;
Choice #1 to do a 7 day round of antibiotics and hope the infection went away.
Choice #2 To have port surgically removed and have picc placed in arm.
Mom chose to do the round of antibiotics,which right away within a day seemed to be working. By the time she took her last pill, we thought she was well on her way to being over the infection. It still hadn't completely healed so he gave her another 7 days of antibiotics to take. Halfway into the week we realized it was getting progressively worse so back to IR we went.
This time the decision whether or not to remove the port was no longer an option.
The surgical wound took about another 10 weeks to heal. Below are some graphic pics of the port site from infection to removal to healed.
A Port-a-Cath is a device that is surgically implanted under the skin. It is made up of an opening
with a silicone bubble (the “septum), which is attached to a catheter leading into a blood vessel.
In the meantime the port was replaced with a picc line which allowed me to continue administer fluids at home, and was also used at the hospital to get blood draws and give chemo. In the months that followed Dr.H continued to check in with mom from time to time just to see how she was doing and even went out of his way to come to us while she was receiving chemo to check her port site and change her dressing. If only more doctors were like him, life would be that much easier.
A PICC line is a long, soft, flexible tube, or catheter, that is inserted through a vein in the arm. The PICC catheter is designed to reach one of the larger veins located near the heart. It is longer and thinner than a regular intravenous catheter.
Port vs Picc
They both have pros and cons....
Pros
Ports are for long term use and can usually be used for up to 6 years
Piccs can be used for several months up to a year before needing to be changed
Both can be used for chemo, blood draws and hydration without constantly being stuck with a needle.
Ports are easier to hide
Piccs are easier to place & remove and are less painful
Cons
Ports have to be surgically placed and removed.
Both are equally at risk for infection if not sanitized properly with alcohol
Ports tend to develop a sheath which is basically scar tissue under the skin that makes blood draws almost impossible. Thank god for laying down,coughing and cathflo.
In the end its all about personal preference in my mom's opinion the picc line has been the better option for her but everyone's different.
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