PICC Insertion (Sept 8 2010)

PICC Insertion, Sept 8, 2010
I go to the hospital in the morning, and am taken to the X-ray department for my PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter) insertion. Once there, I put on a hospital Johnny shirt, and lie on a stretcher. Two girls wheel me into an operation room, with a huge ultrasound monitor above the table.

I notice that neither of these girls is wearing any makeup. It must be some type of hospital rule. However, one of the girls has the most impossibly long eyelashes. I ask her what type of mascara she uses, and she tells me that they are eyelash extensions. She had them put on at the aesthetic salon. They last for months. Note to self: once done chemo, get eyelash extensions. So hot.

I’m on the stretcher, and they place my arms out in the crucifixion pose. The nurses, surgeon, and I all wear protective masks. They place an IV into my upper right arm, and give me a local anaesthetic. The surgeon begins to thread a long blue line through the vein in my arm, weaving it in until it reaches the artery near my heart. She showed me the ultrasound, and I could see the end of the PICC line, there above my heart, nestled onscreen between the underwires of my bra.

Tweet

Follow @StArRmAcAwEsOmE