No Infection! But Still Stuck

Good news-- there is no infection in my PICC line! This means that a) IV antibiotics were able to be stopped b) no concerns of sepsis and c) they were able to resume my TPN (IV nutrition). Although the PICC is operational and useable, now that we know that there is no infection, it still is really poorly located, and still has not fully healed. As a result, we are planning on proceeding as planned to place a Hickman line in my chest, and remove the PICC.

Originally, we planned for that procedure to happen today. However, I have continued to have swelling, and one particularly bad episode, so the team decide that they want to use general anesthesia (knock me out) instead of local anesthesia like they usually do for the procedure. This gives them control over my airway in case I react to anything during surgery. That is scheduled for 8 AM tomorrow morning, so fingers crossed that it will be smooth sailing, and then I would go home mid week.

The other part of the procedure plan that was slightly changed was that they are no longer planning on removing my port tomorrow. Since the port is fully operational, gives blood back, etc, they decided that they would keep it, but de-access it (no needle), as I have been doing since I got the PICC. This means that tomorrow's procedure will be slightly less invasive than planned, and provides access in the event of an emergency where the Hickman is not working, or if infection concerns arise. Once I am able to get off TPN, they can remove the Hickman, and I still have the port without having to go through another surgery.  I am still a little uneasy about having 2 central lines, even though one is not accessed, but having the port resting under the skin as backup only isn't a terrible idea since it is functional.

Yesterday, we did the weekly Methotrexate (low dose chemo) shot, and started TPN late last night. For today, we are waiting on the dietician to refine the TPN regimen. Since I have been here, I am continuing to have issues with losing electrolytes, so we may need to tweak the "cocktail" that goes into my TPN. I'm glad that we were able to resume it, because I really noticed a difference not being on it (which I honestly didn't anticipate). We are also keeping anybody wearing fragrances far away from my room to avoid another mishap :P I'll post an update when I have one!