I haven’t got a Picc Line now, but I did have one for quite a while a few years ago. I thought I’d do a chapter on my experiences of having one. How I coped with it. The care that was needed. That sort of thing.

Let me start off by explaining what a Picc Line is, in my own words.

A Picc Line is a small, long tube that is inserted into normally your arm. The tube inserts into your arm, particularly into a large vein that carries blood into the heart. The tube runs up the arm, and towards your heart. It is designed for long-term IV use (so if a patient needed regular IV antibiotics, or needed blood taken regularly)

I had it for those things, but also for nutrition. When I was really poorly and was an inpatient in both Kings and my local hospital, I was connected up to a machine that pumped this particular liquid into me that had all the nutrients I needed in it. This was called TPN (Total Parental Nutrition). The reason I was having this was because I had a lot of trouble physically eating and was barely keeping anything down. They needed to get nutrients into me and this was the only way. It meant long stays in hospital and frequent visits to the hospital when I was allowed home.

When I was allowed home, I still had the Picc Line inserted as doctors knew I’d need it again at some point. Luckily a Picc Line is designed for long term use and can stay inserted for as long as it needs to be in. Some people have a Picc Line for life.

I was a bit nervous about being at home, and leading a normalish life with the Picc Line. What if I knock it? What if something goes wrong and I lose blood or something? It was scary but I eventually got used to it. It also helped knowing that I had a community nurse who was on the end of the phone whenever I needed her. She also came round once a week to flush the line to make sure it was clean and wasn’t blocked.

It wasn’t pretty looking and so I had a bandage around it most of the time. That was also for protection. Luckily, it was in an area that I could easily cover it up too. I could just wear long-sleeved clothing to hide it.

It was also itchy from time to time. This is because the dressing that was put on it stuck firmly to my skin to keep it in place. This made my skin underneath extremely dry and uncomfortable. This was probably the worst part of having a Picc Line thinking about it. Although… There was a slight benefit to this. Every week, when my nurse came round to flush the line, she’d also change the dressing. When she’d take the old dressing off, she’d get this little cleaning device. It was basically like a small, wet sponge. She gently massaged my dry skin to clean it before applying a new dressing. Omg it felt so good!! I didn’t want her to stop😂. I kind of miss that feeling😂

After she’d finish cleaning, she’d apply a new dressing and a new bandage. And that was that.

I never really had any trouble with the Picc Line. It was pretty useful at the time. It meant that anytime I had to go to hospital, I didn’t have to have a cannula inserted to be put on a drip or have medicine injected into me – they just used the Picc Line!

However there was one occasion where it failed when the nurse came to my house to flush it. It was also starting to make its way out for some reason. The nurse tried pushing it in a little and also went to do her thing, got a syringe and began pushing to flush, but the syringe would be stiff and wouldn’t push the water through. She tried multiple times and checked the tube that was showing. Nothing was working.

She came to the conclusion that it probably had to be taken out. But she couldn’t do so without the permission from my consultant. She tried contacting him but had no success. We waited a little while but eventually she said “I’m going to have to take it out”. So she began gently pulling it out of my arm. My parents looked a bit worried and were probably thinking I was scared too. But I breaked the tension by causing a little bit of laughter. It was all quiet as my nurse was gently pulling it out. I looked down and thought it looked like a ‘magic trick’ that a clown does. You know, the one where he pulls multiple tissues/napkins out of his sleeve and it seems never ending. That one. So she was pulling the tube in my arm and I started going “duh duh duddah duddah duh duh duh” (the clown theme if you know it😂). Everyone laughed. It really helped what was a stressful situation for all of us in the room.

Here are some awkward photos of me with my Picc Line in🙈😂