Once they took me back they tried a high-velocity saline flush and pulled back. No blood return. The next thing to do was try 2ccs of tPA (Tissue Plasminogen Factor) in each lumen. You can read about tPA here. The idea is to let it sit for 30 minutes to try and dissolve any fibrin sheath that may have developed. That didn't work either. The only thing left to do was replace the catheter. Here we go again...
Now, we're down to the last course of action. In a procedure that took about 30 minutes, a guidewire was inserted, the old catheter removed, and the new catheter inserted over the guidewire. They used lidocaine again and it was not nice. The first time when they originally inserted the PICC they used lidocaine because of the large bore of the catheter and the fact that they have to make an incision. That first time I barely even felt the needle and never felt the lidocaine. THIS time. Well, this time I felt them stick 4 or 5 times and the burning that ensued felt more like they had injected propane instead of lidocaine. Wow. At one point (I believe it was when they were inserting the guidewire) I almost came up off of the table. They asked me if it hurt. I said, "It's fine. Just go ahead." Next time that happens I'm going to say, "No. It didn't hurt at all. I just thought that now was a good time to get a few abdominal crunches in."
Once it was over with I had to ask the doc who did the procedure this burning question, "How many of these have you done?"
Her answer?
"I've seen a few."
That's even worse than last time. She had never done it before. At least the doc who originally inserted it had done one before mine. Of course, it appears that the catheter wasn't long enough at 16.5 inches, so now it's an even 18 inches and lays at the entrance of my right atrium. It seems happy there.
One thing's for sure...there's a lot of stuff going on with me that is more than a lot of people could handle. Sometimes it's a lot for me to handle, but I don't have a choice. The worst thing about it is that people either can't or just refuse to grasp the seriousness of this disease and the fact that it can be fatal. Thank goodness for the friends I've met in the Facebook Lyme support groups. Talking with someone who is going through the same things I'm going through helps so much. We're all going through a storm. It's not bad enough that we're so sick we can barely function, but we also have to deal with friends and even family members who doubt the veracity of our illness. All I can say is that whenever they get sick and experience dozens of symptoms no one can explain, they're going to be shocked when people don't stand by them because, surely...it's all in their head. Yeah, they won't be the same person who walked in either.