PICC Line Infection

Thursday, May 27, 2010

This morning I went in for blood work to confirm I was OK for chemo tomorrow. When it came time to see the nurse, we discussed the side effects from last week’s infusion. I mentioned I had chills on Friday and Saturday, I had a sore acidic belly and a small dry cough up until a couple of days ago.

I also mentioned something else … this morning I noticed that my PICC line area was sore and my skin was reddish and warm to the touch. She looked at it asking if maybe I had a skin reaction to something. I said I didn’t think it was that because it was just too sore. I mentioned to her that the muscles in both arms and shoulders were usually weak and often sore but this is different. A second nurse had a look and thought it might be an infection.

The first nurse called my Onc in to have a look. He concluded that this was indeed an infection and rescheduled my chemo to next week Friday. He also put me on the antibiotic Cephalexin 500 mg for 7 days. Then he took out his pen and drew a line on my arm at the edge of the redness and said … if the redness goes beyond this line … to call the clinic immediately.

So now I’m back to checking my temperature 4 times a day for the next week at least. …Zaraza!


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