My doctor wants to start me now on IV treatments. He is pushing me to get a Hickman over a PICC line. I would love to hear peoples experience with any of them. Also what are the pros or negatives of each one.
Thanks
Posts: 71 | From NYC | Registered: Oct 2015
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poppy
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PICC line requires help of some kind, either home health or a trusted and careful person who can be trained to do this. PICC goes in your arm, which means you would have to do extension change, etc with one hand, which is not possible. Also, the fasteners are hard to use. If you don't use some type of fastener to hold the line, it slides out with every dressing change. Finally, it is more likely to get infected. That said, a lot of people are able to do it.
The hickman goes in the chest, not the arm, and is more expensive, but you can be trained to do it all by yourself. That is, if you are a careful person. Do a search of the archives for an article I posted a while back on this question. Can use search term of hickman. It will last longer than a PICC.
PICC can be installed by nurse in outpatient. Hickman requires a bit more, will need some anesthesia.
Part of the consideration is whether insurance will pay for it, assuming you have insurance. And if they are like mine, you won't know for sure until the bill is submitted and the EOB comes back. They might say it is OK in advance, but that only means if it is medically necessary. That they may not determine in advance.
The reason I mentioned doing the dressing changes, infusing by yourself (with help by someone you know) is because insurance may not pay for the infusion drugs and home health after one month. Then you have to pay. That is why, if you can get it installed and some visits from home health, you and/or a trusted relative or friend should get training from the nurse to take over after insurance stops paying (if they do.)
Since we don't know what you are capable of or what you can afford, that part of the answer is a guess. Some people can do these medical things, either PICC or hickman, and some cannot. For those who are able to do them, the hickman needs less help than the PICC.
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poppy
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There are some good youtube videos on both of these IV lines.
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bluelyme
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Has any one had a power port?
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sammy
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I have an Angiodynamics "Smart-Port CT Low- Profile Power Injectible Port". I met with my surgeon about 6weeks before surgery to discuss my special needs.
I have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, vascular problems, collagen for wound healing, and stabilization of the device were all major concerns. I could not have a Bard Power Port for many reasons, one being their popular septum guide triangles that would eventually erode through my skin.
Most people get Bard Power Ports. That is what hospitals usually stock and surgeons usually place. They work great for most people.
But I need my port for IVIG. I need/ want it to last as long as possible, goal is 10 years!
The reason that I did not want Bard is that the port is large. I am small. It would have jumped off my chest and screamed that I was sick even when deaccessed. It also has the septum guide triangle that would erode through my chest wall. That would not be fun!
My port is tiny and awesome! About the size of a nickel. I have very little tissue/ flesh to cover it so the doctor placed it a little lower than normal on my chest wall. He also anchored it really well so it will never come loose or flip due to my EDS. I like that even when accessed, no one sees it under my clothes!
The major problem with having a tiny port is that you must be thin for a nurse to be able to feel the septum through the skin to accurately access the port. It's tiny size makes it very hard to stabilize the port and place the needle where it belongs.
Nurses are used to easily feeling the triangle bumps on the septum of the Bard Power Port. This makes it so very simple to access. You just put the needle right in the middle if the triangle. (So when they encounter my tiny port with no septum guides, they freak out!). I try to have my port accessed before any medical procedures where it might be needed so that unfamiliar people do not have to "experiment" it.
If you are comfortable and your doctor allows, your nurse can teach you how to care for your port. You must be super careful about sterile procedure so that you do not cause infection in your port and sepsis.
I care for my own because I am OCD about it's sterility and such. I don't like anyone else to ever touch it, ever.
I would only consider a port if you needed IV antibiotics for several years. PICC lines do not carry the same risks that ports do. They are easy to care for. You can still shower with DryPro PICC covers. You really forget you have a PICC after you've had one for awhile. I would insist on having the PICC placed by interventional radiology though, no exceptions! They make placement, super accurate, complication free, and a painless breeze!
Think about it!
edited for spelling errors due to autocorrect! Fun times
[ 01-10-2016, 05:10 PM: Message edited by: sammy ]
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bluelyme
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Thanks sammy...most informative...will see if doc can give diagnosis to cover it...
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