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21 Feb 2009

Taking the PICC

Click image to Biggify
Well the mumborg is still leaking away after copious swaddling and bandaging. She has been swaddled more than baby jeebus and bandaged tighter than Tutankhamen, but the blood still keeps on oozing.
Also her veins have given up the ghost and she had to have a PICC line inserted, so they could easily administer the blood transfusions and IV antibiotics. Her hand in the picture above is bruised and battered because of the constant blood tests and IV's, so the PICC line was the only way to go. Of course nothing is ever simple with the mumborg and it took three attempts to get a PICC line in, which hopefully will now last six months.
At the moment she needs another three units of blood and lots of antibiotics, just one unit of blood takes four hours to drip drip its way into the mumborg, the thing is almost hypnotising when you see it, drip dripping away. After every unit of blood, a bag of IV antibiotics is needed, which takes two hours, then another unit of blood and so on. I am just tired typing that, so as you can imagine the mumborg is in serious need of uninterrupted regeneration time. That wont happen until all the blood is in and the wound has stopped bloody leaking.
All this blood loss and leaking has made me think about donating blood, its something I have always 'meant' to do, but somehow never got round to it. The mumborg would be dead without the kindness of strangers going out of their way and donating some of the red stuff. When I got back from the hospital I checked the local paper and there is blood drive (?) on the 27th, so I think I will go and just bloody do it!

20 comments:

  1. Oh- you definitely have to check out Manic Mommy's Virtual Blood Drive!! http://manicmommy.blogspot.com/2008/01/manic-mommys-virtual-blog-for-blood.html

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  2. Claire,

    I donated blood for years and years and even went the route of doing pharesis until becoming ineligible due to some pills I have to take. Trust me. It is simple, fast, and a really really good thing to do. Bright side: They give you juice and cookies afterwards.

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  3. Aww well I hope the mumborg gets better! Go donate some blood, I bet it'll be great. I've always meant to do it as well..

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  4. Aw Claire...I'm sorry to hear this....I've never donated blood before either....now you've got me thinking I should do it too. For the mumborg!!!

    xoxo

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  5. I'm SO sorry mum is going through all of this. It's so unfair!
    I used to organize the blood drive for our office and out of 200-250 people on site, we'd be lucky to get 20 to donate! It is really an easy thing to do and so important!
    Give mum my best and tell her I'm rooting for her.
    ~~~Blessings~~~

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  6. I used to give blood and well after you get diabetes you can't anymore... drag ville.. hope she gets to come home soon... Jeff had a picc line when he was in the hospital and that was so the anitbiotic would drip above his heart they say that is the most effective way for it to work.. But he didn't have blood like that all over. Is her blood not coagulating for her now.

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  7. Donating blood is a good thing. I used to give it all the time, but since I moved to a different city I kinda forgot about it till now.

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  8. Wow, mumborg is being totally gruesome on ya, isn't she?? Hope things start improving soon.

    Donating blood is so easy - just a bit of time and blood. I can't donate now due to being tattooed within the last 12 months, but once that 'sentence' is up, I'll get back into my regular donation routine.

    I'd say definitely donate some of your platelets - feels good knowing you're helping someone else, and actually its especially good for you in summer months. :)

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  9. Poor, poor Mumborg, what a horrible carry on. I hope she gets better very soon!

    As for the blood donation thing...it took me years to pluck up the courage and I finally went they said I was no use to them! :o/

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  10. I donate blood when I can...it makes you feel good that you are giving back in a way.

    And now, reading your post, you really get to see the impact it has!!

    What a good feeling!! Do it Claire!! You can make somebody else grateful, just like you are now.

    Take care,
    Kat

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  11. Good for you wanting to donate blood. I would myself but I was told I'm not allowed. Probably becuase with the amount they take from me, I'd end up like a walking sack of bones.

    The cookie is probably a deal breaker. I mean, its definatley worth a tiny needle scratch to get juice and cookies!!

    (If you can convince people to donate blood aswell, tell them to be organ donors too. Its a GOOD thing :D)

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  12. Glad the Mumborg got the Picc line. It makes everything much more pleasant for her. No stabbings, or lines everywhere.
    Saying a little prayer for her to get stabilized quickly.

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  13. Your poor mother, she must have felt like a right pincushion after all of the poking and prodding. A PICC line is definitely the way to go but it's too bad it was so difficult for them to get that in, too!

    I can't give blood as they tell me that my veins are too small or some such thing (plus I'm more or less anemic) but I would if I could. My youngest brother has one of those really rare blood types and he gives blood all the time. Guess he'll just have to be the family representative!

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  14. I am so sorry about your mother. Hope she gets better soon and absolutely donate blood! I wasn't able to donate recently because I am an asthmatic on meds, but as soon as I am cleared, I will be donating. Here they give you a cookie and a sticker afterwards. Great blog and love your doodles. :)

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  15. I am still sending good thoughts and prayers to the mumburg. I've never donated blood. It's really just because I'm a chicken. :(

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  16. Prayers and blessings to you and mumborg. An ironic twist years ago...I was a regular donor for years and came up positive on a preliminary Hepatitus test they regularly do to protect recipients. Made the trip and got tested at the local Health Department. The bad thing is once you get 'screened', your name is added to a national list, so it's not possible to donate further...even if you get a clean bill of health from the Health Department.

    Do you have a 'Blood Bank' where people can donate specifically for your mom or transfer their donated 'credits' for her?

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  17. Claire--I'm so sorry for your poor mum and hope that she is doing better.

    I would absolutely love to be able to give blood--but when I was an addict, I contracted Hepatitis B (I am so lucky I never got Hep C, which so many of my friends did acquire). Because of that, they don't want my blood. It's a real regret that I can't give blood because it is so important for healthy people to do that.

    I think it's great that you are taking the bad experience of your mum and raising awareness for such a worthy cause.

    Melinda

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  18. Aw, your moms hand looks awful. Hopefully the PICC line will give her a bit of relieve. I'll say a prayer.

    I can't donate blood. I'm a poor candidate because I have passed out in the past from a few viles being taken.

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  19. Hope things are improving for your mumborg, and the bloody bleeding has bloody well stopped!

    And I've got to tell you (and everyone else who has mentioned here that they've "meant" to get round to giving blood), that this is the ideal time to start a life-long and extremely worthwhile habit of donating ... it's relatively quick and painless, and you get biscuits afterwards (or if you donate in Ireland, Guinness!) ... I donated regularly for 20 odd years, but they've now had to reject me cos of my tumour ... all better now, I hasten to add, and charging ahead with my 365challenge for Cancer Research UK now (www.365challenge.co.uk), but they won't have me back ... so if I can encourage you and your blog-buddies to take my place, that would be superb.

    ps - thanks for following my twitterings ...

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  20. Poor Mumborg. Does she have a good book to read while she waits for all that dripping?

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