Unfortunately being on TPN can cause damage to the liver as the liver has to work harder to process the feeds. This can lead to long term damage to the liver which can ultimately lead to liver failure and the need for a liver transplant. Obviously I’m nowhere near that stage yet but that’s why it’s so important that my team continue to monitor my levels closely.
Today the stitches securing my Hickman line had to be removed. They stay in place for 3 weeks to stop the line from coming out while it embeds itself in the chest ok wall. Usually the stitches would be taken out by one of the nurses at the GP practice but a couple of years ago I went to have them removed and instead of using sterile gloves and following the correct aseptic technique she just grabbed a pair of gloves out of the box on the wall. Needless to say that nurse came nowhere near my line and I’ve never gone back to have Hickman line stitches removed at the GP surgery again; instead I go up to the ward at the hospital and let the nurses there do it where I know it will be done properly.
But being in Cornwall when the stitches needed to come out meant that getting the ward nurses to remove them wasn’t an option and there was no way I was going to let a district nurse in rural Cornwall anywhere near my line. Chances are they might not have ever seen a Hickman line before and I’m not going to be their guinea pig! So before I was discharged from the hospital I got the nurses to give me a stitch cutter and sterile tweezers as I would rather take them out myself.
So that’s exactly what I did.
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