Frank

Frank has an appt with the surgeon on Weds for a porta cath. During this last stay he blew every IV line and the Picc line worked its way out. Does anybody else have a child who has had a porta cath. Did you love it or hate it? How hard was it to care for, ie flushing, general care?

Misty

[Jimmysmom]

Jimmy had a port a cath for about a year and I loved it. Before he got that he had a Pic line which I thought was a big pain, especially getting Jimmy to leave it alone. At the time we were only using it once a month for steriods but we still had to flush it daily. With the port cath you don't have to do the daily flushing's unless you access it daily. It was nice to have when he needed blood drawn, unfortunately he locally everyone was always too afraid to mess with it. They had seen them on adults but not on kids. Thankfully Jimmy hasn't had the need for an IV since he had it removed a year ago last March, though its was nice knowing it was there if needed. They took it out when he came down with pneumonia as they were worried that the infection had come through it.

Good Luck, I hope everything goes smoothly

Anne, mom to Jimmy (4) Infantile Axonal Neuropathy, trach, vent dependent, g-tube and spinal fusion with growth rods