The PICC Line is in

Jim's PICC line is in. He was shocked at how easy the procedure was, and he and the 2 nurses and the radiologist joked and laughed around the whole time it was being done.

I treated Jim to a cheese steak sandwich with ketchup as a reward while we were out. Blew his dietary sodium budget for about 3 days!!

He came home a little confused about the line's purpose and care, and refused to let the home health nurse draw blood from it. I had to call back to the radiology nurse to clarify. Jim was happy to get a blood draw without pain.

The good news was that the blood draw showed he hasn't lost anymore ground on his blood sodium level. Still low but no longer dropping.

The bad news was that the gastroenterologist called in the afternoon, three days after I placed a call to him, to recommend against a PICC line because Jim is susceptible to infection. We'll have to be extra careful with its maintenance.

One of the Home Health nurses taught me today about flushing the ports on the PICC line. Piece of cake. Has to be done every 24 hours.

Jim slept in until 1 minute after Patrick left, so I got to get him up and help his with morning cleanup. His appetite is off, and he seems despondent and bored. I played one hand of Go Fish with him and he beat me. I asked him to walk the stairs and he refused. I told him we WERE going up the stairs today, and he had to choose when, and he finally agreed to it and did very well. He even took a few steps outside the front door for fresh air.

Where is this road leading us?