A First

I'm moving up the food chain, folks. Today, I got to remove a Port a Cath from a patient!!!

The patient expired shortly after I arrived to work. She was very, very ill, with a laundry list of illnesses and conditions. Thankfully, the family decided to take her off of life support and let her go.

She had two indwelling lines; one for dialysis and the other for the numerous blood gases, draws, and medications. The nurse offered to have me d/c the lines, and I jumped at the opportunity. I got to cut the sutures and yank the line right out without much blood. The second line was not so kind to me.

This catheter had been in so long that the skin surrounding it had adhered to it. No matter how hard I pulled, it wouldn't budge. Needless to say, I had to cut into her skin to loosen the catheter, and it was only when the nurse used a scaffold that it came gliding out. No blood!

Now, I've always said I would never be interested in surgery. I think last night may have sparked an interest! We will see!