Picc line comment

January 21, 2010

I'm new and will introduce myself soon. However I felt I needed to comment on

the picc line concerns. This is not directly to Lyme disease, however it is to

help allay some concerns (fears) that I believe Mom Tiffanie has.

I am the leader of a youth group. In August, I took my group to Washington DC

(11 kids, 3 adults). A week before we were scheduled to leave, one of our

younger girls, was released from the hospital with a picc line. We decided that

we didn't want her to miss the trip, so her mom trained one of our adults on the

administration of the IV drip and we had full documentation and contact

information from the home health nurse. We changed our schedule slightly to

accomodate the IV times and the time it would take for the drip. We also had to

make arrangements for refridgeration of the meds (we were staying on a military

base, so didn't have direct access at first).

The only time we requested extra help from personnel at the military base was

when we had to flush the picc line. Other than that, the trip went great, there

were no issues with all the sightseeing we did or the activities, she

participated in everything. Showering was a non-issue, and she had a great

time.

We managed her care for the week, with only a 20 minute " crash course " , and I'm

glad we didn't exclude her just because of the picc line.

Granted, we are not talking about a long term line here, and it wasn't my own

child. However, I've learned that some of the things that we may originally

consider obstacles (in any circumstance), often just need a bit of creative

thinking and perhaps some knowledge and training, and then there are only slight

changes to the status quo.

Keep your chin up, there will be light at the end of the tunnel.

Charlotte (in Michigan)

iamwhimsy@...

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