PICC-free and Proud!

We're getting very close to The End of Flappy. The post-op impediments are dropping away: I can sleep more comfortably, I can lift my arms up to hug people, I'm done with antibiotics and all the other drugs but the Pacerone. I have a couple more follow-up appointments, including what will surely be a weird encounter with my primary care doc tomorrow. If she said "Oops!" last time I saw her, I can't imagine what she'll do when I show her my scar and ask for a referral to an opthalmologist.

But really much more important, I dropped by the ID guy's office today to get my PICC line removed. Seeing how I'd already seen it done once, I'm sure I could've handled the job myself, but I know that's Not Allowed.

It came out in one tidy whisk! Those savvy Californians: This PICC line had little centimeter measurements marked all along it, so the doctor didn't have to do what my nurse had done with the first one, which was to, with his clumsy gloved hands, try to match the sticky, blood-splotched thing up with the flimsy folded paper tape measure that comes in the dressing packs. So it was clear that all 41 centimeters that went in came back out again. That's almost twice the length of my first one. Also, in California they used much thinner thread on the sutures, so they didn't get stuck in the bandage every time it got changed, and they got yanked out much less painfully.

Dr. Gumprecht asked me if I wanted it, but I declined. That seemed kind of like keeping your wisdom teeth in a jar, or, as one guy I dated did, a parasite that's been dug out of your back in the Bolivian rainforest. (Actually, that was kind of cool.) Gumprecht looked pretty keen to send me home with it, especially when I said Peter might want to see it. "I'll put it in a bag," he offered. I felt like I was turning down some particularly choice leftovers. (Hey, maybe I could've sent it as a consolation prize to a Guess-the-Bill competitor?)

Anyway, now I have clusters of almost symmetrical little spots on the inside of both arms. Which is secondary to the fantastic shower I will be able to take tonight, using both arms equally, and lifted almost all the way above my head.