Dear Central Line,
I have
been long remiss to recount your virtues.
But upon this most significant milestone, I shall do just that.
February
7, 2012, you were placed into my precious son Manny. There were many, many lines before you. In fact, there were 8 lines from October
13-Feb 6.
None of them could be counted
on. One of the lines tried to kill
you.
So when
you were placed, I have to admit, I had no clue that you and I would become
friends. I had no clue you were “the one”. I figured you’d be like all the rest. I prejudged you based on all the lines of the
past. And that was unfair to you.
We have had plenty of
disagreements. By June, only 4 short months in, you broke! In fact, you broke only an inch from Manny’s
skin. They weren’t sure they would be
able to repair it. Standard philosophy
is 1 ½-2 inches minimum. Everyone
thought we would need a whole new line.
I was disappointed in you. How could
you let me down like that? And it was on
Manny’s 3rd birthday too!
But … you showed you were not like
the others. You were able to be
repaired. You stood up to our first
test. We were released from the hospital
just in time to celebrate his birthday.
It wasn’t long that you would begin
to prove to me your worth. And that you
could stand up to the tough tests of life.
We were in and out of the hospital and you stayed infection free. Weekly we would take blood through you. Daily we would put nutrition into Manny. Antibiotics. Other medicines. You held up through it all.
You, however, are also a Dramatic
Diva! You love to be the center of
attention. Life will be going along
smoothly and then you just like to stop working. No reason.
Just attention seeking. You also
like to blow a gasket and break at the most inopportune times. In fact, you’ve scared many a tough nurse …
scared to use you.
It’s not like I blame them
though. You have broken in the hands of
FIVE nurses. (So far, never in my hand
interestingly enough.) And of course you
can’t break in any normal, peaceful kind of way. You like to do it right as Manny’s blood
sugar is about to crash. You break and blood spurts everywhere with every heart
beat. You break when there are nurses
around that don’t know/don’t remember what to do if a line breaks. There’s one nurse that sees you and asks if it’s
an “Ethanol day” before she will even walk in your room! (Ethanol days are the days
you like to give the most problems.)
And now, perhaps it’s because you’re
in your advanced years, that you are starting to have a new problem of
clotting. The first time was in the car
on the way to Nashville where I was going to be speaking about Central Line
issues. (Thanks for the extra fodder for
the talk.) But all you need is a little TLC
(aka TPA) and then you’re good as new.
You sure have made the last two
years interesting. Just last night, on
the eve of your second birthday, you decided to pull a fast one on me. I went to flush you so I could hook Manny up
to his TPN and nothing. Nada. No movement at all. Nothing in, nothing out. I knew there was a blockage and that if I
pushed you too hard, you would break under the pressure. So together, we patiently stuck with each
other, trusting each other. Afterall, we
have become good friends for the past two years. And you didn’t let me down. Together, we worked through the problem. Together, we were able to accomplish our
mutual goal … getting Manny the nutrition he needs.
You’re doing well for an old
lady. One year is considered very good
for the type of line you are. And to be
infection free and still in use at the two year mark? It’s beyond our wildest
expectations. Especially since we use
you heavily every day. Most days you are
in use almost around the clock with heavy duty medicines.
So thank you, dear broviac. We know that some day your time will
come. We know that old age will
eventually give way to a line that just can’t do it any more. But until that time comes, thank you for all
you do for Manny. I’m thrilled you’re
part of the family.
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