Friday 4th February 2012
Crystal Palace, London
and rest.
The last two weeks have been fairy uneventful, that's the whole point of having a week on and two weeks off with the Chemo.
For the first week off I was still recovering from the side effects, mostly fatigue due to the lack of sleep and having ulcers running the entire length of both sides of my tongue.
The second week of rest has been exactly that, with the only prolonged symptom being the change in the range of tastes I can experience, which are all now slowly returning.
Friday 20th January 2012.
I had a visit from the District Nurse to disconnect me from the portable Chemo pump and to clean/service and 'flush' my PICC Line. I wasn't sure when she would arrive, or who needed to book her, or what the standard procedure was. She called me mid morning and arrived sometime between 4:00 and 5:00 in the afternoon.
The PICC Line service only takes 5 too 10 minutes but the paper work takes twice as long. She left me with the "District Nurse/Patent PICC Line service Manual & Records" to add to my growing collection of papers.
We had a good chat about the district nurse service and in future I will be visiting them at there site in The Beckenham Beacon Hospital. It's far more convenient for them and it means that as long as I am there between 2:00 and 3:30 in the afternoon I'm not waiting in for one of then to turn up. As I'm not an invalid house bound or bedridden its better for all involved.
One thing she did do though was somewhat 'over dress' "Pipie". The 'wad' of dressing was the size of a pack of cards, and had to be held in place with an entire plastic film dressing supplemented with two others cut into strips to seal the edges and catch al the stray corners and flaps of dressing. She also managed to stick the crook of my elbow together so the dressing bunched and pinched when I bent my arm. And, catch a whole bunch if my underarm hairs that would pull every time I lifted my arm.
Wednesday 25th January 2012
Back up to the Dimbley Cancer Care Unit for a "Nadir Blood Test". With the PICC Line this is so quick and simple I don't know why every one doesn't have one put in permanently. The nurse wasn't overly impressed with how "Pipie" had been Over dressed.
There is a real worry that a less experienced nurse might decide to cut the dressing off. Recently this 'has happened' and the nurse in question accidentally cut through the PICC Line. I can only imagine the consequences, and the thought does not appeal.
The nurse at Dimbley as well as taking the blood samples also did a full clean & service and showed me their preferred dressing technique. It was quicker, simpler neater and far more comfortable.
From now on I'm having my PICC Line dressed "Oncology Style".
Edited with thanks to Jo W
