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PICC Line People - Any Experience with Cathflo?

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Posted 5/14/2009 1:01 PM (GMT -5)
I have had my PICC line in since 2/25/09.  Infusion nurse came last night and could not draw blood from my line.  Infusing is not a problem - she flushed me out several times and my meds went in fine but she still could not get blood out.  She explained why and said it is common (can't remember the name for it), and that next week she will come by and put in Cathflo, wait an hour, flush it and I should be fine.   BUT, I looked it up and it has some potential serious side effects.  But of course they list side effects even if it only happened to one person, so I just want to know if anyone has used this before and how it went and most importantly, if it worked.

Thanks,

Laura

Posted 5/14/2009 1:26 PM (GMT -5)
Hey Laura, The nurse ordered this for me when I was having problems with my first PICC Line. I didn't have any problems with it or experience any side effects but I do remember the nurse needing to convince the PA from my llmd's office that it was necessary. At the time I wasn't aware of any possible side effects which was probably just as well. I'm sure you'll be fine. Good luck. Valerie
Posted 5/14/2009 1:47 PM (GMT -5)
Why did she think it was not necessary? Just curious. My nurse tried everything last night, more saline, flushing harder, more heparin, having me lie down, move my arms, all kinds of stuff - nothing worked. You know the most crazy part? I was just at my LLMD yesterday for my checkup and she was amazed that my PICC was doing so well. darn it!

Thank you Valerie :)

Laura
Posted 5/14/2009 5:45 PM (GMT -5)
The PA didn't think it was necessary because the IV's were working fine and I was able to do the flushes. The nurse thought it was necessary because the flushes were hard to do and she didn't think the PICC would last too much longer without doing it. From the beginning I experienced a lot of discomfort from that PICC and ended up having it pulled anyway and having another one inserted in a different spot. Blood has always been drawn from my other arm and not the PICC line.

As long as your doctor thinks it's necessary, try not to worry about it. Good luck.
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