IV Hell!

[Guest guest]

I had a midline installed at home last month, at the first dressing

change the nurse pulled the catheter out a little and made it bleed a

bit, then it kept migrating out on it's own.. by the 22nd I was having

pain and swelling in my shoulder so I called the nurse and she said just

hot pack it and we'll see how it is tomorrow.. the next day I tried to

do my infusion and incredible pain started in my bicep and shoulder, I

was also running a fever.. called my nurse again and she told me to go

to the er... after 6 hours at the hospital they figured out t had

abcessed inside and infiltrated into my bicep and developed phlebitis..

so they pulled it... they then installed a temporary small IV in my rt

hand so that I could continue treatment... 3 days later as this was a

weekend the visiting nurse came and removed it saying ittd cause

infection if left in longer.. the next morning I was to have a picc line

installed in my rt arm.. it didnt happen and I missed the next day's

dose.. 4 days ago I got the picc line installed, the anesthesiologist

had a terrible time getting it in but shoved it past resistance which

hurt quite a bit.. then on the x ray they found that instead of the

intended place it had curled upward in a c shape, so the dr pulled it

out a bit snipped it, stitched the whole thing into my skin and left it

at that... there was blood all over the bed, the table the floor.. awful

mess he made comments like " geesh it looks like i slaughtered a chicken

over here " and cursed alot which I wasnt impressed with... that night, I

tried to infuse and got the most horrible searing pain around my rt

collarbone and chest area.. Im not a wimp when it comes to pain but I

was in tears.. I stopped the IV and went to the er.. where they figured

out that it had perforated the vein, couldnt get blood return or flussh

it. so they pulled it out and installed another temp IV in my rt hand..

my arms are a complete mess... the next morning ( 2 days ago I insisten

on going to a different hospital for my 5th try at this IV thing... they

said that if they encountered resistance theyd do a cutdown in my neck,

needless to say I was scared to death of this.. but it went well and

this anesthesiologist seemed to really know his stuff, no problems and x

ray showed it just where it should be.. it has lasted so far and Im

praying that it continues.. my only option left since both arms are

practically ruined is a cutdown into my jugular I am told and I DONT

want that... I dont know if I can handle 8 more months of this if this

keeps up.. thank you for hearing my rant

Kathy