How many PICCs before Port?

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SIcklyhatED

New member
I've had 2 PICCs thus far, both in my left arm, and both were <em>extremely</em>hard to place. I'm a touch stick: my veins are tiny and squirmy, and for both procedures I had to be <span style="text-decoration: underline;">completelyknocked out to get the lines placed. I know eventually I'll probably need to get a port. My only question is, how many PICCs, more or less, can you get before a port is called for?
It's only the past 2 years that I've had to be hospitalized with the PICCS, so my hospializations aren't terribly close together. I just don't know how much my arms can take, since I have so very few "good" sites.
 
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SIcklyhatED

New member
I've had 2 PICCs thus far, both in my left arm, and both were <em>extremely</em>hard to place. I'm a touch stick: my veins are tiny and squirmy, and for both procedures I had to be <span style="text-decoration: underline;">completelyknocked out to get the lines placed. I know eventually I'll probably need to get a port. My only question is, how many PICCs, more or less, can you get before a port is called for?
It's only the past 2 years that I've had to be hospitalized with the PICCS, so my hospializations aren't terribly close together. I just don't know how much my arms can take, since I have so very few "good" sites.
 
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Incomudrox

New member
Sounds like your genetics are working against you. If you have had two and having issues probably soon. If your veins squirm you are probably dehydrated fwiw. It really depends on a lot on your genetics. I have had 18 in my left arm and 5 in my right plus the one i have in the right, at this current moment. The left is still okay they just wanted to go in the right because it's better for placement I was told w/e. I am native american rumor has it that native Americans (coming from someone who is native american and worked in a lab her whole life) have some of the best veins. When they placed the PICC I have in now they check the jugular to make sure it doesn't walk up there and when took my breathe in to dilate the vein she said I have the largest jugular she had ever seen period and that she'd done thousands of PICC's. I'm not a very big person at all so I'd say i'm some what of an anomaly when it comes to the number of PICC lines you can get.
 
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Incomudrox

New member
Sounds like your genetics are working against you. If you have had two and having issues probably soon. If your veins squirm you are probably dehydrated fwiw. It really depends on a lot on your genetics. I have had 18 in my left arm and 5 in my right plus the one i have in the right, at this current moment. The left is still okay they just wanted to go in the right because it's better for placement I was told w/e. I am native american rumor has it that native Americans (coming from someone who is native american and worked in a lab her whole life) have some of the best veins. When they placed the PICC I have in now they check the jugular to make sure it doesn't walk up there and when took my breathe in to dilate the vein she said I have the largest jugular she had ever seen period and that she'd done thousands of PICC's. I'm not a very big person at all so I'd say i'm some what of an anomaly when it comes to the number of PICC lines you can get.
 
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mmmtat

New member
I had eight before getting a port. I don't think it's about a number, it's about getting you the meds. I would talk to your doctor about it. I don't go on IVs very frequently (once every year-three years)...but it's still SO worth it when I do need to do them, it's no longer a stressful desicion worrying about the PICC placement, it's just like "yea lets start them".
 
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mmmtat

New member
I had eight before getting a port. I don't think it's about a number, it's about getting you the meds. I would talk to your doctor about it. I don't go on IVs very frequently (once every year-three years)...but it's still SO worth it when I do need to do them, it's no longer a stressful desicion worrying about the PICC placement, it's just like "yea lets start them".
 
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shinkdew

New member
I probably had 20-25 PICCs before I got my port, most of them in my right arm. For whatever reason they could never thread it in my left arm after a handful of PICCs. I wish I had gotten the port sooner, it's so much easier and much less stressful.
 
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shinkdew

New member
I probably had 20-25 PICCs before I got my port, most of them in my right arm. For whatever reason they could never thread it in my left arm after a handful of PICCs. I wish I had gotten the port sooner, it's so much easier and much less stressful.
 
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Incomudrox

New member
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote><i>Originally posted by: <b>live2breath</b></i> I have had 26 PICCS and still holding strong no port for me</end quote>
Very nice! The way I look at it is, PICC line is just another way of holding me down. I'll pass for as long as possible.
 
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Incomudrox

New member
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote><i>Originally posted by: <b>live2breath</b></i> I have had 26 PICCS and still holding strong no port for me</end quote>
Very nice! The way I look at it is, PICC line is just another way of holding me down. I'll pass for as long as possible.
 
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Havoc

New member
Some people do have tricky veins, but the majority of the time when you hear "your veins roll, wiggle, hide" etc., it just means they have bad technique. Yes, veins do sometimes move, but that's the advantage of having 2 hands, as you can use your non dominate hand to stabilize the vein. Sometimes veins are hard to see, but that's why they teach anatomy, so you know where they should be. I've started thousands of IV's, once on an infant who was only a few days old. I have a 96% success rate on the first stick (they track that kinda stuff these days). Don't let them make excuses, ask for someone who has a really good track record.
 
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Havoc

New member
Some people do have tricky veins, but the majority of the time when you hear "your veins roll, wiggle, hide" etc., it just means they have bad technique. Yes, veins do sometimes move, but that's the advantage of having 2 hands, as you can use your non dominate hand to stabilize the vein. Sometimes veins are hard to see, but that's why they teach anatomy, so you know where they should be. I've started thousands of IV's, once on an infant who was only a few days old. I have a 96% success rate on the first stick (they track that kinda stuff these days). Don't let them make excuses, ask for someone who has a really good track record.
 
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CFkitty

New member
Although I've heard that having a port makes things so much more convenient, the idea of having something attached to me, in me, freaks me out. I even have issues with band aids, ripping them off in the middle of the night. I, too, have had quite a few PICC lines, maybe around a dozen. Two of them ended up giving me blood clots, and my most recent PICC placement went horribly (three attempts over three hours, sedation wasn't working, gave me PTSD).
I've been thinking about a port but I don't know if I'm mentally ready. I know that when it comes down to the wire, it will make my life much easier, but I'm fighting it until it doesn't make sense NOT to get one.
 
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CFkitty

New member
Although I've heard that having a port makes things so much more convenient, the idea of having something attached to me, in me, freaks me out. I even have issues with band aids, ripping them off in the middle of the night. I, too, have had quite a few PICC lines, maybe around a dozen. Two of them ended up giving me blood clots, and my most recent PICC placement went horribly (three attempts over three hours, sedation wasn't working, gave me PTSD).
I've been thinking about a port but I don't know if I'm mentally ready. I know that when it comes down to the wire, it will make my life much easier, but I'm fighting it until it doesn't make sense NOT to get one.
 
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lilmac7

New member
I wish they did PICCs here, everytime I have to do IVs it's the old fashioned regular IV site every 3 days or so. Luckily my veins are like hoses so it's usually not a problem, only the idiots that rush or don't listen to me when I say they will move and aren't as deep as they think since they look so big sometimes they go in at too much of an angle and end up going right through it and into muscle - which is when I could just about let go a fist at them, but I haven't....yet <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif" border="0">
 
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lilmac7

New member
I wish they did PICCs here, everytime I have to do IVs it's the old fashioned regular IV site every 3 days or so. Luckily my veins are like hoses so it's usually not a problem, only the idiots that rush or don't listen to me when I say they will move and aren't as deep as they think since they look so big sometimes they go in at too much of an angle and end up going right through it and into muscle - which is when I could just about let go a fist at them, but I haven't....yet <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif" border="0">
 
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katethekid

Guest
I was 6 when I had my first port, then had another one at 16 when they could no longer get the picc lines in. I had 2 lines in each arm and one in my neck before the second port was placed. Not sure about before the first port. It was sooo much easier for my weekly gammaglobulin treatments.
 
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katethekid

Guest
I was 6 when I had my first port, then had another one at 16 when they could no longer get the picc lines in. I had 2 lines in each arm and one in my neck before the second port was placed. Not sure about before the first port. It was sooo much easier for my weekly gammaglobulin treatments.
 
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