So today it was our turn to spoil her a little, but just a few hours before they and family arrived for a roast dinner, Isaac and I were having to head into A&E to get him checked out. His longline is hurting him now, which it shouldn't. Thankfully they agreed it was not blocked, but likely his vein is irritated. Not surprising really, having housed a tube for the last two and a half weeks and pushing through pretty toxic drugs 3 times a day. It would be great for it to last until Thursday..... but it's still not comfortable for him tonight, so I'll be calling clinic in the morning. The team in A&E were fantastic, and Isaac as brave as ever, we made it home in time to celebrate.
I promised a summary about IV lines, so here is my very non-medically trained summary;
A cannula is the most common IV line, typically inserted in the back of the hand. A needle is pushed into a vein and a short flexible tube is pushed up the vein. The needle is removed, but the line stays in. On the end of the line is a port, which syringes (or drips, depending on the amount of drug and how slow this needs to be delivered) can be attached to, to then deliver drugs directly into the blood stream.
Essentially, all lines follow this same principle, just in different veins in the body, in different lengths, and to last different durations.
A longline is the same, but as the name suggests, longer. This is usually inserted just below the elbow, but Isaac has also had them in his ankles, and some veins in the groin may be used. These typically last longer than a cannula, usually up to 3 weeks.
A PICC line (peripherally inserted central catheter) are similar to a longline, and Isaac has had these in the past too. Only they are longer again, and usually inserted under general anaesthetic. The length is typically from his elbow right up to his chest cavity, or from his ankle to his abdomen. These can last many weeks, or months.
Isaac has not yet had any other kind of line, but Central, Femoral and Hickman lines are often used for drug delivery over a longer period, often in oncology.
In CF, a more permanent IV device can be surgically implanted, called a Portacath usually in the chest or upper arm. Isaac is likely to have one when he needs more regular IVs as this makes drug delivery much easier. It's like a rubber bung, sitting under the skin, which can be accessed easily when needed for IVs, but at other times, is fairly invisible. It's also often used in CF due to the number of courses of IV antibiotics which damage his veins, meaning they cannot be used again.
Our IV station;
Happy birthday Mama and lovely Ben x
