Yesterday I had a liter of saline IV - catheter and extension set tubing left as a saline lock. (An overnight trial to see if I could cope with showering and sleeping with "it").
It was OK sleeping - covered with a tube sock.
Showering - not so much. All I had to cover the site was a plastic sandwich bag. I taped it with proper medical tape. It was awkward and I was very nervous about water leaking in.
I could find a better way to safely shower, but......summer is coming - which means sweating when outside.
How to deal with a Saline Lock in the summer? Cover and tape when going outside for a few hours to protect from dripping sweat?
Dunno - would covering/taping make skin under the Tegaderm sweat more?
When going in the shower, I will wrap the gauze, heplock and tegaderm ensemble with saran wrap and keep the arm with the heplock out of the water spray. After the shower, I take the saran wrap off, and then put the sleeve back on.
Greta
Posted by Tincup (Member # 5829) on :
You can cut a trash bag to fit, and use duct tape to be more secure. Don`t forget to have scissors in the bathroom to get it off afterwards.
How long will you have the lock and where is it on you?
At one time they were developing a dry mitt of some sort, which is a plastic glove with a long arm piece, but I have not heard more about it. You could probably use a rubber glove if it were a very large one and you are small. I would cover it with a sock first to prevent shifting.
As for sweating, you maybe should learn how to change your dressing immediately after it gets wet, or have someone who is with you all the time, like a family member, to learn how.
Posted by susank (Member # 22150) on :
Thanks. Forearm. If I can cope with it - to remain in place at most 72 hours. Weekly inserts-alternating arms.
The showering/sweating - getting water under the Tegaderm still bothers me. Otherwise I think using a saline lock would be perfect. I am thinking and researching - preparing for upcoming doctor appt. regarding IV meds. (Saline, Vit.C,. Glutathione, Magnesium - maybe Abx).
Wondering - pros and cons of angiocaths vs butterfly needles...
Which catheter less damaging to veins? Angiocath vs butterfly?
The sleeve looks like a great idea for a saline lock re: sweat. How tightly do they fit over all the "gear"?
When I first tried a tube sock it felt too tight and a bit painful - like it was pressing on the catheter. Then by accident - I managed to get the heel part over the tubing - and viola!!! - very roomy over the site and no pain. So that solves the sleeping and not sweating/showering times.
The BF's are so easy to deal with. If I could reliably get in the vein on the first stick - (hands the easiest) the BF's would probably be my first choice. For IV pushes. There are folks that actually insert/infuse with BF's daily? I think I can see how BF's would be less traumatic to veins. But that often?
Thanks. So stressed. So tired. So much pain. I wish I had some Magnesium to infuse....
[ 05-24-2015, 02:53 AM: Message edited by: susank ]
Posted by marypart (Member # 27012) on :
My son had a picc line for four months in the summer. We bought an excellent sleeve from http://www.drycorp.com/
He used it for showering and even went swimming underwater in the pool. No problems.
It was wide at the center so it didn't press on the statlock.
Posted by SouthPaw (Member # 35229) on :
marypart I used one of those when I had a PICC. They work well.
The only problem I had was my arm would sweat in it. Lyme did that too me, it doesn't take much to make me sweat now. I forget which combo of meds made it stop, I think it was Malarone and something else but went off that when I got my PICC. It was so nice to lay under the covers with a sweatshirt on and not be drenched in sweat. Sweating returned when my meds changed though.
Other than that had a rough time keeping the dressing from coming loose. I had my PICC through a NH winter so had no choice but to shovel. Luckily one of my neighbors was a nurse, a very kind woman, would change my dressing every time it came loose. The nursing service that came once a week charged me $200 to change it the first time it came loose, wasn't covered by insurance (just their one weekly visit). Insurance stopped paying for them the same time they stopped paying for my Rocephin so she was a godsend.