Frustrated!!!!!!

Very frustrating :( I took my daughter to our local collection place and was told she couldn't do pic line only a RN  nobody told us either, makes you very cranky

Hey! Its all these things that you iron out along the way which help for the next treatment, but of course no less frustrating. I have had the same with a Hickman line. The best place is to go to the Chemo ward and get the blood taken there. I live 1.5hours from where I had chemo and i ended up going to the ward for bloods on the day of chemo (send to hospitals pathology as urgent) then i saw my oncologist and to the ward for chemo after.

Also i would recommend asking for the pegfilgrastin injection (into belly 24 hrs after chemo), you should qualify as this is your second round and you were neutropaenic previously. It basically boosts your neutrofill count reducing infection risk and... Wasted trips to hospital. 

Hope this helps, all the best for today!! 

Well we are now going ahead with chemo tomorrow..... Yeahhh (if it is something to celebrate).

Spoke to oncologist and she said that I should just turn up early tomorrow get blood taken out from picc line and then go ahead with chemo!!!

The problem was I'm doing chemo through private but ended up in public hospital for neutrophils but because im not a chemo patient at the public hospital they can't help me!

Hi Chriss - how frustrating!!!!! I don't think people understand how hard it is to go through all these blood tests and injections when your veins are shot. I really feel for you after just having gone through my own battle with horrible veins.  

I heard that blood can be drawn from certain types of picc lines but not all pathology collection places have the necessary cannula/valve connection thingy to do this and depending on the gauge of the picc it could collapse so that could be why some places don't take blood this way. Not sure if this is correct- just something I heard from relatives that are nurses.

As I will be begging my oncologist for preferably a port a cath - but maybe a picc line - next week, I'll ask about this. Let the hospital know about your experience especially if it was the hospital that referred you to this collection place. 

Hope they managed to get blood out of you and you are in good form for the next round of chemo.

Good luck and take care

Nadine

Sue I'm waiting for oncologist to ring me as well as the place im going to go do chemo.... You would think they would send me to the right place knowing I have a picc line and only a RN can do it.

Mandy I was told they can that's why I had one put in as I have no veins..... But yes frustrating isn't the word I would like to use xx

They can take blood out of a pic line but it needs to be a RN and a lot of collection places don't have one, call the head office on the collection form and they will tell you where to go to get it done. sorry that wont help for this time though :( 

Good luck for chemo tomorrow

Cheers Sue xx 

Yeah, PICC lines cant be used for blood tests, and the hunt for veins can be awful.

You certainly are not alone, Chris, and won't be the last. I think the design of human bodies could be tweaked a bit- they dont react well to ongoing tests and prickings.

Another hurdle, another thing to make you stronger!

So get those pink boxing gloves out and chin up and start again.....

Frustrating isn't enough of a word! xxMandy

Not knowing how to get blood is no excuse 

Very frustrating !!!!

Oh that must be so frustrating, you would think that someone would get it right. I'm sure your not the only person this has happened to. It is a tough enough trip with out staff not knowing what is going on. Good luck I hope it all works out for you