Yesterday they tried to use my new Hickman Line, but unfortunately couldn’t get any blood out of it. Either I have run out or there was a problem with the line. There is no problem getting things in on both lines, but try as hard as the can they just couldn’t get it to give any blood. We tried various things, such as the usual coughing and breathing (deep breaths) as they pull on the syringe, but nothing. Even tried doing a little dance with my arms in the air and trying to move my body vigorously, but still nothing.
So after several attempts they decided to give up and refer me to the line specialists. I had to be taken out of my isolation ward and taken downstairs to where she lives. Being taken out of the room isn’t a problem at the moment as I haven’t really started the serious stuff until after Thursday once I have had the Radio therapy and the new Stem Cells from Nigel. I have to go to a different hospital again (Clatterbridge) on Thursday where I will be mingling with others, so not really a risk. Although I will obviously avoid any real contact with people as they might be carrying some kind of bug.
There was another issue with my line as well. The fancy way the surgeon had fixed the line in was causing a bit of concern here as to how they were going to keep it clean. The surgeon had adapted a stoma ring (which are used for colostomy bags) and stuck it to my chest and then sutured the line to it. This works really well and is a good solution to stopping the line from moving while it heals in place, making sure that the