Details of clinic and PICC line

nice and clean
Originally uploaded by jaanus83.

Sorry I didn't write yesterday like I said I would. Although I think George was the only one who probably noticed... Anywho, I had clinic on Tuesday and as I said before, it wasn't the best news I could have hoped for, but I wasn't really expecting anything else. I'll go through the whole clinic procedure for those who may not know what a 'clinic' is.

I made it to clinic without passing out in the car, which is always an awesome way to start the day. Got to the clinic and made my way to the scales to weigh myself (the first part of the clinic). I was 72kg - a loss of 2kg; that's in two weeks mind you. Not bad (if I was a tad on the heavy side). However, since my goal is to always gain weight, not the best thing. I haven't really had much of an appetite at all lately. The thought of any food other than cucumber, lettuce (basically water) makes me feel really queezy, so no real surprise that I had lost some weight. Also with infections and stuff, a bit of weight is going ot be lost with your body fighting it. You'll be glad to know that since then however I have got my appetite back a bit...

So lost some weight, as I expected, then I made my way to the seating area. I saw Craig, or Bones as he's called, who is an awesome cf guy who by now must be in his 40's. Great guy and good for a laugh. We discussed how there should be a lounge there for cf's while we wait the hours to see the doctor. Except I don't see it being very easy to grab a spot on since cf's aren't the most considerate people you meet - especially if they are in clinic and are feeling shite.

So I sat there for about 15 mins and then I was called into the lab where they do your lung function. Now the way they measure your lung function is quite simple - but also a bit of hard work, especially if you're having trouble breathing at the start. There's a computer, a big box with a big plastic hose coming out of it, and a mouth piece on the end of that. When ready, you take a big deep breath in, preferrably the biggest you can, then you breath out as hard as you can into the tube. Once the initial force of the breath is out, you have to keep breathing out until there is absolutely nothing left in your lungs. Then there is the obligatory coughing, spluttering, redness in the face, headaches and general crapness. Well, when you're well there isn't so much of that. But with my form lately, I'm genuine in saying that I was lucky not to pass out. There are usually 3 breaths done and the best gets the tick as the one the docs use.

So my results were as follows. 45% for the FEV1 (which is your ability to exhale air in that first second (hence the 1)). 74% for my FVC (full volume capacity). And finally 17% for my MMEF (which is your small airways). The MMEF doesn't really mean alot with cf since your lungs are screwed anyways. The one the docs mostly look at are the FEV1 and the FVC. The lower your FEV1, the more blockage you have, which is why I usually only refer to this one when I'm discussing my lung function (and a big cheers to co-chief Kenny for giving me all the definitions...).

So now that lung functions are done, I go back to the seating area and chat a little to whoever's there, but not a whole lot since I can hardley breathe from the lung function. Finally, maybe half an hour later, it's time to see the doctor. They bring you in their little room, talk about how you've been feeling, which in my case is that I can't breathe and nothing's working, and discuss what options to take from there. So since I've been sick for quite a while, and my lung function has decreased more than 10% in two weeks, it was decided that I better get admitted into hospital for 2 weeks of iv antibiotics.

My PICC line (basically a drip that is designed to last up to 12 months) was scheduled to be put Thursday (today) and so I got dropped off and went to radiology. The procedure for a PICC line is a little bit gruesome, so if you don't wanna know the details go to the next paragraph. You first take off your top, lie on the table with the arm you're getting stuck laying out to the side on a board. The doc then gets the ultrasound machine and searches your arm for a nice juicy vein. Once they find one, they get all steralized, clean your arm up all bacteria-free like, and get ready to start sticking you. The order of the steps vary from doctor to doctor, but this is what they did today (and coincidently the way I prefer it). They start with a local anaesthetic at the point where they are going to put the drip in. If you haven't had a local before, it stings like absolutely buggery, but then leaves you with a nice numb pin cushion. They then get the ultrasound on your arm again to find the vein and get a big needle to make the first hole into the vein. It's cool to watch because you can see the needle entering the vein wall on the ultrasound. Way cool. Once they get the needle in, they thread a tiny metal tube up your arm. You can't really feel it, but if you concentrate hard enough you can feel the pressure of it moving inside your arm. Now a little more local for the scapal, which is used to make the entry hole bigger. After this, they get a really big plastic needle canula thing, about 3 inches long, and push that over the tube, into the entry wound and into the vein. This part always hurts a bit. The pressure is quite tough on the arm, and the feeling of it trying to be squeezed into the small hole in the vein is quite unusual. Think of it as, well, someone trying to shove a big plastic tube deep into your arm. Often this is the part that causes the most blood. Today it was quite excessive... I couldn't actually see it, but I started to feel something very warm drip down my arm for about half a minute or so. And the blood that comes out of a PICC line is very dark red, very thick and literally oozes out. Nice. Once in, the metal tube is removed and they replace that with a plastic tube (which is the PICC line) and thread that up through the vein and all the way to your heart. The big plastic needle canula thing is taken out and you are left with a nice blue tube entering your arm and worming its way to your heart. To make sure it's in the right place, they take a live x-ray to see where it is. Lastly is the dressing which is pretty uneventful...

So there ya go. That's what the last few days have had in store for me. My arm at present isn't feeling too bad - just a very deep, dull pain in the muscle. Kinda like if someone were to punch you very hard in the middle of the muscle. I get admitted into the ward tomorrow sometime, and I'll be there until early next week. If I'm lucky enough, I'll be able to go home next week to do the remainder of my IV's at home. Let's hope that nothing is seriously wrong with me that would want them to keep me in the ward.

Rating: 4.9

What I'm listening to: Sia - Colour the Small One