Summer Activities with a PICC line

[rosesixtyfive]

I will ask the doctors when we go for the bronchoscopy next week, but what kinds of fun things can Sam do with a PICC line in. I know swimming is out, but what about running through a water hose, playing at the playground. How active can he be with a PICC line? I am trying to make a list of 14 fun things to do so it will still feel like summer to him and our family. Thanks so much. rosesixtyfive, mother of Sam, 3 years old, ddF508

 

[Rebjane]

My daughter had a PICC line when she was 2 1/2 over the summer. We did not do water activities with the PICC. She did go to her sing along playgroup(it was a mommy and me type thing). I honestly don't remember exactly what we did. The IV antibiotic tied us down in that it was every 8 hours infused over 2 hours at a time; so basically 6 hours of letting that anti infuse. Be kind to yourself and give yourself a break. Also, the antibiotic made her feel run down; it's a time make yourself well so don;t put too much pressure on yourself.

Go out for an ice cream. Do lots of crafts; playdo, go to the dollar store and get cheap toys for rewards etc. Rent movies. Stuff like that.

 

[rosesixtyfive]

Thanks Rebjane. We are scheduling the people who he loves the most to spend time with him each day. I don't quite understand how long it took you to administer the medicine. Do you remember about how long each day your child had to sit still and let the medicine infuse? Do you mean 6 hours a day?

 

[Rebjane]

My daughter had a reaction to the antibiotic she was on; so we had to infuse it slowly; when they tried to have it infuse over one hour she got very flushed. If we infused it slowly over 2 hours; then she did not have a problem. So yes, we did her antibiotic at 6am; 2pm and 10pm. I would try to hook up her daytime infusion while she was nebbing and vesting anyway. The nighttime one we did while she slept; I had to set an alarm to wake myself up to flush the Picc at midnigh when it was done. So, 6 hours a day she was hooked up to her antibiotic; though she would sleep through the nighttime one.

 

[Jennyvb17]

When I was younger my mom would hook me up in the morning before I woke up, and I while I was sleeping at night.
I would imagine with one so little letting them watch a show and sitting and having lunch would be a good way to kill the time.
You could probably get away with the sprinkler or letting him play in one of those water tables, as long as his arm is wrapped in ceran wrap (this is what you will do for baths too)
Otherwise play as usual! Ok maybe not quite as rough as usual for a 3 year old boy

 

[kosdancer]

His activity level will partly depend on how comfortable he feels - obviously rough-housing is out, and all water activities are probably out as well. With some PICC lines my arm was quite sore for awhile. You will probably be doing 2 antibiotics, each 3 times a day - that's sort of the standard course. If you have to use a drip it could take 2 hours each dose; if you can use an elastomeric ball it's probably going to be closer to an hour and a half. My home healthcare company made me switch to syringes for my last line and it only took about 20 minutes per dose and I had less side effects than usual - I would highly recommend either elastomeric balls (it's just a ball of medicine and it's sort of like a balloon, it deflates the medicine automatically and you aren't stuck to a pole, you can move around) or syringes.

 

[CrisDopher]

The only things I didn't do with PICCs in were swimming and climbing. Beyond that, anything goes. (Docs may recommend against weightlifting with that arm). I even ran half-marathons with my PICCs in!