10AM We were at the clinic at 9, and Jimmy has already had his labs done, and now we are at the hospital, at interventional radiology, waiting for Jimmy to have his Hickman line catheter removed. This is a tube that goes through his chest into his jugular vein; attached to it are three other tubes, or lumens, with clamps on the end: a red, a white, and a blue one.
An indwelling catheter is used for the various intravenous procedures Jimmy has been undergoing, eliminating the need to insert IV's into his arms. He has had it since last August, and it has been a colossal pain. The lumens have to be flushed daily with heparin to prevent clotting, and the dressings changed at least weekly. Since he has had it in for so long, he has become allergic to some of the adhesives and cleaning solutions, which have caused his skin to blister. We are thrilled to see it go.
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