I was declared bug free on Friday and had a new Hickman line inserted. As you would expect with me it didn't quite go as straight forward as it could but it's in and it's working. The problem was that I wanted to have some sedation for the procedure but to get sedated you need a cannula and to get a cannula you need a decent vein. And I didn't have one. Numerous doctors tried at various times of the day and night. I even had an A&E trauma consultant come up with an ultrasound machine to try to locate a suitable vein! He did manage to get a tiny cannula in after spending 30 minutes looking for somewhere to put it but within an hour the vein had given up and the cannula tissued. After feeling exhausted and like a human pin cushion the final straw came when they said the only vein left to try was on the sole of my foot! I've had cannulas in my feet and ankles before but I drew the line at the soles. Could you imagine how painful that would be? You know what it's like when you accidentally tread on something sharp let alone having to lie there and voluntarily let someone poke a needle in there!
So the doctors said they could either give me an injection into my muscle or a tablet form of sedation before I left the ward but there was some confusion over the time I was supposed to go down to the Interventional Radiology (IR) theatre and in the end I was whisked away without having anything. Once in IR I told them a few times that I wanted to be sedated and they said that the consultant could probably squirt some down the vein after he did the incision cut but before he did the insertion of the Hickman line. I wasn't trying to be difficult but I had experienced having a Hickman line inserted without sedation before and I can honestly say it was one of the worst experiences of my life. And that's saying something because I've really been through some shit!
So I'm taken into the IR theatre, laid on the table and hooked up to all the monitoring machines. The consultant comes over and he's all scrubbed up and starts cleaning the skin on my chest with the orange iodine liquid and I realise that he's very close to starting and nobody has mentioned anything about sedation. So I politely reminded him that I wanted sedating and he asked me where my cannula was. When I told him I didn't have one and that I was a nightmare to cannulate he said he would do the procedure with double local anaesthetic and that I would be alright with that. So I sat up and told him that if I wasn't going to be sedated then he might aswell send me back to the ward as I wasn't having the procedure done. I don't think he believed me and said that it would be fine and that I needed the new line so lets just begin. But I stuck to my guns and I think he realised that I meant what I was saying. As much as I was desperate to get home (and I needed a new line putting in to do that) I really wasn't prepared to put myself through a painful and traumatic procedure.
So with much huffing and puffing he began looking for veins in my hands and arms. Seeing nothing he got the ultrasound equipment he was going to use to insert the Hickman line and started looking for a decent vein that way. Given the job the doctor from A&E had had finding a vein I knew this wasn't going to be a quick process and so tried my best to relax. The consultant was getting more and more frustrated and then decided he was going to put a PICC line in because it was smaller than the needles on the cannulas. He must have spotted a vein he thought was good but as he tried to feed the guide wire in it suddenly stopped and wouldn't go in any further. He tried to force it and the pain was excruciating. So with much muttering and cursing under his breath he pulled that out and shouted at one of the nurses to bring him over some cannulas. Over the next 5-10 minutes he attempted 4 times before getting one in on the 5th attempt. I could finally have some sedation which was good because by this point I was lying there crying.
The next challenge was where to put the new Hickman line. Because the infected one had come out of my right side the consultant wanted to put the new one on the left. But I wanted it on the right as being right handed it's much easier to use. I told him that a doctor at St Marks had told me that the veins on my left side weren't very good but he said that he would decide. So when he scanned it and found that they were crap just as I said they were he started scanning the right. I think by now he was royally pissed off with me and just wanted to get me done and out of his theatre!
So eventually the new line was put in and I went back up to the ward. They connected me up to some fluids using the new line and I waited for the pain relief to kick in. I thought that I was going to be kept in until Monday but on Sunday morning the ward sister came round with the meds and said she was surprised I was still here. I thought I needed to be seen by the doctors in the ward round but she said that if I was happy to go then there was no reason for me to stay. It also turned out that Dr Bowtie was working over the weekend and the sister double checked with him that I could go. Apparently he was wearing red trousers and one of the nurses said it looked like he was wearing disco pants. And because of his lack of bow tie at the weekend Dr Bowtie became Dr Disco Pants! I'm sure the nurses must tell him which probably doesn't help to build our relationship! He was probably desperate to get rid of me and by 10.30am I was out of there! They hadn't had time to do my TTA's (medication to take home) or my discharge paperwork but they said I could pop back and pick them up later that day or on Monday. I still haven't been but I've got to go and get a stitch removed tomorrow on the ward so I can pick it up then.
Hubby and the kids had gone to Devon for the last 4 days of the half term so I text him to say that I was home but to keep it a surprise for the kids. It was so lovely to see their faces when they got back on Sunday evening and saw me sat in the living room. We went through the ritual of them each cutting one of the hospital wristbands off which had started years ago when they were very little. It was a way of them knowing that I was home for good and not just visiting for the day and it's something that's stuck and they always do now. I can't tell you how good it was to sleep in my own bed that first night; sinking into my mattress and pillows I had the first good nights sleep in weeks.
NB x
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