posted
Can anyone speak to the advantages of each--port vs PICC line--if the patient is to have IV Rocephin 5-7 days per week (for an unknown period of time but at least 2 months)? For our family member, this will require infusion in a clinic setting, not at home, to get insurance coverage.
Is there discomfort with the needle change in the port? Does this outweigh the dicomfort of having blood drawn weekly (I know the port means you can draw blood there rather than having an additional blood stick. Our family member has difficult veins, making labrwork--sticks in the arm--a real problem, usually.
Any help with these questions will be so appreciated!
Posts: 19 | From St Augustine, FL | Registered: Mar 2006
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timaca
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6911
posted
I had a picc line in for 6 1/2 months. I was glad to go that route over the port. The thought of sticking myself daily didn't thrill me.
Weekly blood draws through the picc line were done for labs.
Monthly blood cultures were drawn from the picc line. This eventually caught a fungal infection in the line and the line was pulled.
Since I was on IV Rocephin, my LLMD also wanted me on Actigall and did monthly ultrasounds of my gall bladder.
I should mention that it took 4 1/2 MONTHS of IV and oral ketek before I felt like I was in the land of the living again.
Hope this helps. Timaca
Posts: 2872 | From above 7,000 ft in a pine forest | Registered: Feb 2005
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Hi - I have had my Picc in for more than 3 months - getting it inserted was a piece of cake, and blood draws are easy once the staff realized that blood could be drawn through the line without any chance of clots....i have learned to watch the nurses, though, many didn't want to use 10cc or greater cc syringes....and their sterile technique is not always the best!!
If the site starts to itch or I start to get a heat rash/sweat rash under the tegaderm I use ice packs which help a lot. deb
Posts: 122 | From richmond, ca, usa | Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
I have had trouble with this question myself, but have found Annie's info really helpful. Here's a link to the post I made when I asked the same question.
arg82
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 161
posted
I've had both a PICC line and a port and I love my port - it as been so much better for me than a PICC line. I've had the port for just over 2 years now, been on and off IV antibiotics over that time as well as daily IV hydration since May 2005. I had my PICC line for six months but I had a rough time getting it in so it wasn't as easy as it is for a lot of people.
I do all the accessing and de-accessing of my port myself - was taught and supervised by a nurse and I've been taking care of it myself completely for over a year now with no problems. I use EMLA (numbing) cream so I don't feel the needle going in but even without the cream it doesn't hurt that much - more than a blood draw stick but not much worse.
I de-access usually twice a week and take "real" showers, go swimming if I'm up to it, and give my skin a break from the dressing. When I'm accessed, I keep the area dry (I really don't shower when I'm accessed, just easier to de-access and shower then).
I also did my weekly blood draws for labwork myself (I got a kit from my infusion company and fed-ex came to pick it up) and when I need labs drawn at my LLMD's office I have it drawn from my port, too.
Here are a few sites/previous posts with info about PICCs and ports:
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