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| After the cleanup started - not the worst of it... |
Lesson Learned: If you are on blood thinners, and you start bleeding (like your PICC line), wait 2 hours to see if the blood clots before you panic!
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
PICC Line Fun - Part 2
On Tuesday, 10/19/2016, at approximately 6pm, my new PICC line sprang a massive leak! Blood dripping down my arm and pooling up inside the dressing that's protecting the entry. They warned me that sometimes, PICC lines leak a bit, but this was ridiculous - I wish I took a picture of the nastiness - it was like a little balloon of blood gathering on my arm. Needless to say, I was totally freaked out! Wrapped it up, re-wrapped it up when the gauze filled up. Called my homecare nursing company and spoke to the on call nurse, and he said that, though it's not life or death, I should go to the ER to have them stop the bleeding and check the PICC line. So Bob drove me to the hospital, mom met us there and amazingly enough, we got in to see the medical staff around 8pm, we were done by 9pm. By the time we got to the ER, all the blood clotted and everything stopped bleeding! They cleaned me up and sent me on my way!
Lesson Learned: If you are on blood thinners, and you start bleeding (like your PICC line), wait 2 hours to see if the blood clots before you panic!
Lesson Learned: If you are on blood thinners, and you start bleeding (like your PICC line), wait 2 hours to see if the blood clots before you panic!
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Omg! I can't even imagine a leak in a PICC line! I would have panicked too! I've had many PICCs over the years and I don't even know how I would have handled it! But I think you went to U of M, right (I'm a fellow Michigander!) and they probably handled it like it was no big thing!
ReplyDeleteI wanted to reach out to you because I’ve been researching acromegaly for my job and I came across your blog. We’re looking for acromegaly patients to do a paid interview and I’d really like to add you to our list of interviewees! Would you email me so I can pass along some more information? jackie@wegohealth.com
Hi Jackie!
ReplyDeleteI did have my pituitary surgery at U of M, but the knee surgery (and all the aftermath, including the PICC line bloodletting) at Henry Ford Macomb Hospital. I'm all over the place!
So are you in Michigan now?
I would be interested in speaking to you about this opportunity. I will go ahead and shoot you an email now.
Sounds awesome!! Looking forward to hearing from you!
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