I know it has been a LONG time and I really don't have any good reason why I haven't updated before now. Just haven't. So, I will start being more consistent again. Starting with clearing up how it went having my Hickman Line removed. Can I just start with the word, memorable. :)
So, for weeks previous to the removal, my doctors had been telling me that I would just be in an ordinary clinic room and literally, one of them would wrap their hand in the protruding tubes and yank the thing out of my chest. To say the least that made me start having nightmares about such an experience. I mean really????!????!?!?!?!? Um..... I was thinking that maybe I should just keep it in FOREVER. No removal necessary. Nope. Maybe they were just messing with me? No, turns out they weren't, but since I showed extreme apprehension to their means of removal AND I lucked out that the doctor that put the line in happened to be available to take it out. Whew. :)
So, the day I was literally both dreading and looking forward to came. I was SO nervous. SO nervous. I don't get that nervous about much, but I was slightly spazzing out. On the other hand, however, I was SO excited to not have those dangling tubes protruding from my chest any longer and I was so excited not to have to take care of it anymore, etc. SO, with mixed emotions I made my way to the clinic to have my line removed. Still thinking that someone was just gonna wrap and rip it..... oy.
To tell the truth, the doctor did start with that. No joke. He didn't YANK, but he did wrap his hand in the tubes and kinda tug. Apparently, some people's lines literally just fall out when tugged on. I was not so lucky. Lucky? I don't know if I would say that, but either way, mine didn't fall out. The doctor went on to explain that I have three really GREAT things going on with me, that are really BAD when it comes to removing my line. 1. I'm Young 2. I'm pretty healthy. My transplant went well and I was feeling pretty good. 3. Due to my blood working pretty well, my platelets were high and doing their job so, they were attacking the little piece of fabric that was holding my line in place.
So, after explaining that those were both bad and good things, he said that the removal of my line might be a little more difficult than most. (Woooooooooohooooooo) That wasn't what I was thinking. I immediately got MORE tense and had to really focus on breathing deeply so I didn't hyperventilate. So, THANKFULLY, he did use some lovely topical numbing stuff. Six tiny shots all the way around the area where the tubes were placed in my chest. Then, out come a little pair of scissors. He explained that he would have to cut out around the tube to release it. So, even though I couldn't feel it, I was Squishing the nurses hand with my right hand and pushing against the other side of my chest with my left hand as HARD as I could. To say the least, the next day my arms and hands ached like they never have before. :) So, snip snip snip and it starts coming loose. He decides to give it a tug to help it out a bit.. One yank and a LITTLE of it came loose, but it felt like he was trying to pull me off my chair. Then some more snip snip snip snip and he decides that he can get it out with one more "manly" tug. Manly was an understatement. It literally felt like he was trying to pull my collarbone through this tiny hole in my chest. Now, keep in mind this was just pressure I was feeling, not pain thank goodness, but still. I really thought that my collarbone would come flying out the whole. But then all of a sudden I fall back in the chair and the doctor jumps back a bit holding up my line and asking if I wanted to keep it. (As you can guess I gave him a crazy look and said, um, no.) Thanks, but....... I realized that I had come really close to passing out a couple times during that whole ordeal. That was weird, I've been through some interesting things, but never once passed out. So, I must not have been doing very well with my deep breathing. :/
So, after it was out, since the line had been hanging down a big vein, the doctor had to hold gauze to my chest for a good ten minutes. I'll tell ya, the pressure he put on the vein almost hurt worse than the rest of the procedure. That man has some power. Then, it was over. Wow. No more tubes, no more having to change the bandage every day, no more being careful to yank on it (cause that hurt). It was gone and all that was left was a small square of gauze and tape. Oh, and some pain. Once the numbing shots wore off I did feel a bit of pain. It was hard to do anything with my right side for a few days. Then I started worrying about the fact that from now on, with the line gone, I would have to start getting poked in the arm again. Lame. :)
Well, that's it. That's the story of the Hickman Line removal. All in all, I lived through it and I still have my collarbone. Now I've been home for almost a month and things are different. Very, but things are still good and bad, but getting better all the time. I will continue this saga later. I hope all are well and happy, thank you for your support through this whole adventure and hopefully, I will get to see you all at some point in the next while.
