PICC Hell

T

TonyaH

Guest
Hey there,

Sorry I've been out of touch for a couple of days. We've been having an awful time with my son's picc since we were discharged on Friday. First, Friday night we had huge bleeds from the insertion site due to giving too much heparin..(nurse admitted she gave me the wrong dose), and then we had a clot on Saturday and spent all day in the ER having the clot dissolved on Sunday. (nurse admitted she should not have told us to stop using heparin after the bleed.

I am wondering why our nurse has made these mistakes, but also wondering if anyone else has a child who has had a bleed from using heparin. Now that Andrew is on the right dose, 2 ml of 100 unit heparin after each administration, we are doing alright. But after talking with our hospital I am told that the 5 mls should have caused such a bad bleed. Should I be watching out for some other problem? The hospital took an x-ray yesterday and said it was still placed properly, but I am still setting a kitchen timer by the hour through the night to make sure the bleed does not happen again. Also, every time I go to flush the line I find myself holding my breath that I get a smooth flush. What started out to be a situation I felt very comfortable with is turning out to be something I am very nervous about. I'm sure a good three hours of uninterrupted sleep would help, but if anyone else has similar experiences to share it would help to hear how things turned out!
Thanks,
 
T

TonyaH

Guest
Hey there,

Sorry I've been out of touch for a couple of days. We've been having an awful time with my son's picc since we were discharged on Friday. First, Friday night we had huge bleeds from the insertion site due to giving too much heparin..(nurse admitted she gave me the wrong dose), and then we had a clot on Saturday and spent all day in the ER having the clot dissolved on Sunday. (nurse admitted she should not have told us to stop using heparin after the bleed.

I am wondering why our nurse has made these mistakes, but also wondering if anyone else has a child who has had a bleed from using heparin. Now that Andrew is on the right dose, 2 ml of 100 unit heparin after each administration, we are doing alright. But after talking with our hospital I am told that the 5 mls should have caused such a bad bleed. Should I be watching out for some other problem? The hospital took an x-ray yesterday and said it was still placed properly, but I am still setting a kitchen timer by the hour through the night to make sure the bleed does not happen again. Also, every time I go to flush the line I find myself holding my breath that I get a smooth flush. What started out to be a situation I felt very comfortable with is turning out to be something I am very nervous about. I'm sure a good three hours of uninterrupted sleep would help, but if anyone else has similar experiences to share it would help to hear how things turned out!
Thanks,
 
T

TonyaH

Guest
Hey there,

Sorry I've been out of touch for a couple of days. We've been having an awful time with my son's picc since we were discharged on Friday. First, Friday night we had huge bleeds from the insertion site due to giving too much heparin..(nurse admitted she gave me the wrong dose), and then we had a clot on Saturday and spent all day in the ER having the clot dissolved on Sunday. (nurse admitted she should not have told us to stop using heparin after the bleed.

I am wondering why our nurse has made these mistakes, but also wondering if anyone else has a child who has had a bleed from using heparin. Now that Andrew is on the right dose, 2 ml of 100 unit heparin after each administration, we are doing alright. But after talking with our hospital I am told that the 5 mls should have caused such a bad bleed. Should I be watching out for some other problem? The hospital took an x-ray yesterday and said it was still placed properly, but I am still setting a kitchen timer by the hour through the night to make sure the bleed does not happen again. Also, every time I go to flush the line I find myself holding my breath that I get a smooth flush. What started out to be a situation I felt very comfortable with is turning out to be something I am very nervous about. I'm sure a good three hours of uninterrupted sleep would help, but if anyone else has similar experiences to share it would help to hear how things turned out!
Thanks,
 
T

TonyaH

Guest
Hey there,

Sorry I've been out of touch for a couple of days. We've been having an awful time with my son's picc since we were discharged on Friday. First, Friday night we had huge bleeds from the insertion site due to giving too much heparin..(nurse admitted she gave me the wrong dose), and then we had a clot on Saturday and spent all day in the ER having the clot dissolved on Sunday. (nurse admitted she should not have told us to stop using heparin after the bleed.

I am wondering why our nurse has made these mistakes, but also wondering if anyone else has a child who has had a bleed from using heparin. Now that Andrew is on the right dose, 2 ml of 100 unit heparin after each administration, we are doing alright. But after talking with our hospital I am told that the 5 mls should have caused such a bad bleed. Should I be watching out for some other problem? The hospital took an x-ray yesterday and said it was still placed properly, but I am still setting a kitchen timer by the hour through the night to make sure the bleed does not happen again. Also, every time I go to flush the line I find myself holding my breath that I get a smooth flush. What started out to be a situation I felt very comfortable with is turning out to be something I am very nervous about. I'm sure a good three hours of uninterrupted sleep would help, but if anyone else has similar experiences to share it would help to hear how things turned out!
Thanks,
 
T

TonyaH

Guest
Hey there,

Sorry I've been out of touch for a couple of days. We've been having an awful time with my son's picc since we were discharged on Friday. First, Friday night we had huge bleeds from the insertion site due to giving too much heparin..(nurse admitted she gave me the wrong dose), and then we had a clot on Saturday and spent all day in the ER having the clot dissolved on Sunday. (nurse admitted she should not have told us to stop using heparin after the bleed.

I am wondering why our nurse has made these mistakes, but also wondering if anyone else has a child who has had a bleed from using heparin. Now that Andrew is on the right dose, 2 ml of 100 unit heparin after each administration, we are doing alright. But after talking with our hospital I am told that the 5 mls should have caused such a bad bleed. Should I be watching out for some other problem? The hospital took an x-ray yesterday and said it was still placed properly, but I am still setting a kitchen timer by the hour through the night to make sure the bleed does not happen again. Also, every time I go to flush the line I find myself holding my breath that I get a smooth flush. What started out to be a situation I felt very comfortable with is turning out to be something I am very nervous about. I'm sure a good three hours of uninterrupted sleep would help, but if anyone else has similar experiences to share it would help to hear how things turned out!
Thanks,
 

purplemartin

New member
We have had similiar issues with my son's port. Beleive me it will get a lot easier to handle these situations when they arise and soon enough you will be the "expert" on the situation and know how to handle everything with a breeze!
 

purplemartin

New member
We have had similiar issues with my son's port. Beleive me it will get a lot easier to handle these situations when they arise and soon enough you will be the "expert" on the situation and know how to handle everything with a breeze!
 

purplemartin

New member
We have had similiar issues with my son's port. Beleive me it will get a lot easier to handle these situations when they arise and soon enough you will be the "expert" on the situation and know how to handle everything with a breeze!
 

purplemartin

New member
We have had similiar issues with my son's port. Beleive me it will get a lot easier to handle these situations when they arise and soon enough you will be the "expert" on the situation and know how to handle everything with a breeze!
 

purplemartin

New member
We have had similiar issues with my son's port. Beleive me it will get a lot easier to handle these situations when they arise and soon enough you will be the "expert" on the situation and know how to handle everything with a breeze!
 

JazzysMom

New member
My picc line last year bled like hell. I also had a nurse in the hospital not flush with heparin & thought my picc line was shot.

Thankfully another Nurse kept me calm & worked patiently on it.

Things will happen.

You do get "use" to them. It does get easier. I am sorry you are going thru it tho.

HUGS
 

JazzysMom

New member
My picc line last year bled like hell. I also had a nurse in the hospital not flush with heparin & thought my picc line was shot.

Thankfully another Nurse kept me calm & worked patiently on it.

Things will happen.

You do get "use" to them. It does get easier. I am sorry you are going thru it tho.

HUGS
 

JazzysMom

New member
My picc line last year bled like hell. I also had a nurse in the hospital not flush with heparin & thought my picc line was shot.

Thankfully another Nurse kept me calm & worked patiently on it.

Things will happen.

You do get "use" to them. It does get easier. I am sorry you are going thru it tho.

HUGS
 

JazzysMom

New member
My picc line last year bled like hell. I also had a nurse in the hospital not flush with heparin & thought my picc line was shot.

Thankfully another Nurse kept me calm & worked patiently on it.

Things will happen.

You do get "use" to them. It does get easier. I am sorry you are going thru it tho.

HUGS
 

JazzysMom

New member
My picc line last year bled like hell. I also had a nurse in the hospital not flush with heparin & thought my picc line was shot.

Thankfully another Nurse kept me calm & worked patiently on it.

Things will happen.

You do get "use" to them. It does get easier. I am sorry you are going thru it tho.

HUGS
 
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