posted
I WILL BE STARTING IV ANTIBIOTICS DO THEY USUALLY USE A PICC LINE OR A CENTRAL LINE AND WHY DO THEY CHOOSE ONE OVER THE OTHER--??
Posts: 109 | From Western Massachusetts | Registered: Aug 2011
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sammy
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 13952
posted
PICC stands for "peripherally inserted central catheter". It is placed in you upper arm, the tip will end in the SVC just above the heart. This is commonly used for home IV antibiotic therapy.
Another option you may have heard of is a port. It is surgically implanted under the skin of your chest. A special huber needle is used to access the port for infusions. This may be chosen if you will need IV access for several years.
A Hickman central catheter is placed high in the upper chest/ collar bone area. They usually do not use this type of central line for home IV antibiotic therapy. This is used more often for chemo or TPN.
They all have their pros and cons.
Your doctor will recommend the type of catheter that will they think will be best for you. You should not have to make this decision on your own.
Posts: 5237 | From here | Registered: Nov 2007
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Good wishes to you.
Posts: 873 | From WA | Registered: Dec 2005
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dbpei
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 33574
posted
Do you feel the procedure when the pic line is being inserted? It seems like surgery. This sounds so scary and risky to me. I need to go on IV ABX and am so scared.
Posts: 2386 | From New England | Registered: Aug 2011
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posted
I had a PICC line placed in early December. They gave me a small injection to numb the area at the insertion site, so I felt no pain. I did feel some pressure as they were inserting the line, but it went very smoothly.
I'm already feeling much better since having my line placed.
Best of luck to both of you.
-------------------- Lyme918 Posts: 188 | From Massachusetts | Registered: Dec 2010
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dbpei
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Member # 33574
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That is good to know that you have had success with the picc line. Also very comforting to hear that the procedure was not too bad. Thanks for sharing this.
Posts: 2386 | From New England | Registered: Aug 2011
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gmb
Unregistered
posted
I recommend reading a booklet "Infussion for Lymies" that you can download from the web.
I had my PICC place in mid December and have had no major issues. For first 8 weeks I was on 2gr Rocephin 1x/day, then ramped up to 2x/day for 4 days on and three days off.
After a week on the double dosing we kicked in my second round of Meprom just for grins. Felt like I've been run over by a truck and just yesterday had my first "feeling better" day in a long time. So far today is OK also.
dbpei
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 33574
posted
Thank you. I will look for that booklet. I hope you continue to feel better!
Posts: 2386 | From New England | Registered: Aug 2011
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