Pic, Pik, Pick, PICC Lines and Bone Infections ~ My story

Posted on May 27, 2010

My life for 14 weeks has been centered around my left collar bone. Sounds strange doesn’t it, but it’s true. Back in the middle of Feb. I started having shoulder pain, pain I thought was from a pulled muscle, at least that’s what it felt like to me. I went to my dr, he asked the obvious question, what did I do to myself. The answer, nothing, it just started hurting and has gotten worse. The first time I saw Dr. Backens was on Feb. 18th. Dr. Backens isn’t my normal dr, he was full that day, so I opted to see the “new guy” at the practice. I think I saw him a total of 8 more times after that day over the next 5 weeks. I have a feeling he doesn’t want to even hear my name mentioned at this point :o) He started by putting me on some pain medicine and a muscle relaxer. The pain got worse, I saw him again the beginning of the following week, new pain medicine was given, he did some in office tests to make sure I hadn’t torn my rotator cuff, it seemed fine. At this point I was having difficulty picking up Tyler and sleeping, I was starting to have a affair with the heating pad. That Friday, the 26th, I was back in Dr Backens office, I was in extreme pain, I couldn’t drive (my mom took me to this appt) I couldn’t pick up Tyler, I spent every second I could with the heating pad and I was starting to have muscle spasms. I was asked again if I could remember what I did to cause this, the answer was still, I didn’t do anything. The plan of action at this point was to draw a bunch of blood to check and make sure my muscles weren’t starting to deteriorate and also to schedule a MRI for the following Tuesday. On the 28th of Feb. my company was participating in a Bridal Show, I was determined to be there. As of Saturday night I could hardly function due to muscle spasms. With the help of my wonderful mom, my best friend Katie, and my new friends Percocet and Flexerall I made it through the bridal show, barely.  The highlight of the bridal show was meeting some other photographers, Danny and Rochelle Kizzee of R and K Events.  It turns out that Danny is an MRI Tech at Harbour View Medical Center.  While talking to them about business I made mention of the pain I was in and why, at that point, all business conversation stopped, after telling them my story up to that point they asked if they could pray with me, I said yes, I had a hard time holding back the tears, I still don’t think they understand what that simple gesture meant to me.  When my Dr’s office called to schedule my MRI I asked to go to Harbour View, they said yes.  The following Tuesday Danny did my first MRI, it was so comforting to know the person on the other side.  The following Friday I was back in the Dr’s office, the results of my MRI in, nothing wrong in the actual shoulder joint, this was no surprise to anyone, I was told to continue on the pain meds and muscle relaxers for another week.  My blood tests results came back in at some point during this week, everything looked normal, good news.  The following Monday, I was in the ER at Obici, I couldn’t handle the pain anymore, I don’t Andy or I will ever forget me standing in the kitchen sobbing, the wait wasn’t too bad, once I got back in the er I was taken to xray, and then given some pain medicine.  I don’t remember what it was, but it helped.  My xrays came back clean, I was sent home.  Back to Dr Backens I went, at this point we discussed my options, I could continue on with him or I could go to a Dr that specialized in muscle rehab and pain management.  I chose option b.  Another week went by between appointments.  I was taking medicine every 6-8 hours, I even set my alarm clock to wake up to take meds in the middle of the night, because if I didn’t I couldn’t move in the morning.  I was pretty much ling at my parents at this point, unable to take care of Tyler or really myself, I also didn’t feel comfortable driving.  I was still working as much as I could.   During this time frame my chest started to swell on the left side, I thought it was just the muscle spasming and adema, I was wrong.  Most of the swelling was gone by the time I had my appt with the pain management dr.  All of it except the large hard lump on my collar bone.  I was very concerned.  Turns out so was my new Dr.  After a series of questions trying to acertain what made the pain I was having worse I made the comment that my biggest concern was the large lump on my chest, he wanted to see it, when he did he got this look on his face, I started to worry.  He set me up for another MRI, because until we knew what was wrong, there was no way he could treat it.  The other thing he asked for was a wet read (which is where the radioligist reads the scan right away), my appt with him was on Thurs March 18th.  I had my 2nd MRI on Tues the 23rd.  My appt was at 1030, Danny was there to greet me again, although another tech performed my MRI, I know he was checking up on me.  By this point the pain had localized and I was able to drive, still not able to pick up Tyler.   I went back to work after the MRI, at 1:30 I was on a break, my phone rang, it was the pain management Dr.  I was almost scared  to answer the phone.  After five weeks of pain I finally had my answer, he told me I had an infection inside my collar bone, that I would need to be on a long term dose of antibiotics but that I would be okay, he also told me that Dr Backens would be handling everything from here out, but that I would be getting an appointment with an infectious disease doctor.  The only question I asked was, So this is what was causing all that pain?  The answer was yes.

So after 5 weeks of dealing with this I had an answer, it was a relief, but I was scared.  I called and left a message for Dr Backens.  I called my parents and Andy and let them know the little bit that I knew.  Then I walked back into the radio room, Katie was in the office so I went in to talk to her, I was so overwhelmed, but I knew that God would see me through it all.  That afternoon when I got to my parents I got a call from Dr. Backens office, she told me that the infectious disease dr’s office would be calling to set up an appointment, and that I had an appointment with the orthopedist on Monday, I wasn’t real sure why I was going to see an orthopedist, but I figured I would ask Dr Backens when I talked to him.  I called the office at 8 the following morning, as I had suspected he hadn’t gotten my message, he went over some of the same things that the other dr had with me, heavy dose long term antibiotics, he aslo said that my condition was “highly unusual” and that the chances of it happening are “one in a gagillion” yes, he really used that word.

I met with my infectious disease dr (id dr) on Wed the 24th.  Andy and I sat and listened to him explaining what the next 6 weeks were going to be like for about 45 minutes.  I was in shock, I understood I was going to be on medicine, but it was so much more than that.  I was going to be getting a PICC line, which for ease of understand is a permanent iv in my right arm, it’s up in the middle of my bicep, it has two ports.  I was going to be getting to medicines, one  was twice daily and the other zocyn was 4 times a day.  I would also have a home health care nurse coming to see me daily, with twice weekly blood draws.  By the end of the conversation when this sweet man turned and asked me if I had any questions I just started to cry, and I felt so bad for doing it.  He handed me some tissues and turned to Andy who started asking questions.  After I pulled myself together I asked a few of my own.  One thing he told us is that I needed a bone byopsy to see if they could find out what the particular bacteria was that cause my infection.

A bone infection (osteomyelitis) can be caused in only a few ways, here they are via a health website

Bacteria can enter the bone through an open fracture, penetration by a sharp, contaminated object (such as a nail that pierces through a shoe), orthopedic surgery, or a human bite. Poorly controlled diabetics who develop serious skin infections in their feet are prone to develop osteomyelitis. The infection can also be carried to the bones in the bloodstream from another part of the body where an infection is present. This type of infection is known as hematogenous osteomyelitis, and is the most common form of the disease in children.

Now comes the question of how did I get mine, the answer is we don’t know and we probably never will.  The best guess is that I broke my collar bone, most likely while snowboarding, and didn’t know it, a piece of bacteria settled into the small hairline fracture and the bone healed, and the infection started.

My id dr told me that time was of the essence as far as getting the biopsy done, Andy started making phone calls to get a sooner Ortho appt, they were able to fit me in the next day, the nurse came in and told me I would getting my Picc line on Friday.  When we left the dr’s office I called work, I was due back, when I got on the phone my supv asked me if I was okay and I just started crying again.  I didn’t go back to work that day.  I did go in the next morning and then off to the orthopedist.  This post is already and long and to explain the pure circus that my ortho appt was would take a long time, so I’m gonna say just that, it was a circus.  I was told my options were surgery to go into the bone or a biopsy, I chose the least invasive biopsy.  Friday afternoon I got my Picc line at Obici.  I cannot say enough good things about the women that put in my Picc line.  I can tell you I was able to see the xray screen as they were doing it.  The line is in my right bycep, using an ultra sound machine they find a deep vein in my arm, they numbed me and then stuck a need in, using a wire and the xray they fed the wire up through my arm and into the middle of my chest, after they checked the placement the feed a piece of rubber line into the vein, that’s what stays inside, it allows the medicine to go into the central (one of the c’s) part of my chest, where the blood is rushing as it’s freshly pumped, the meds I am on are very strong and if they sit in the veins to long can cause damage, this way they are quickly dispersed.  It also allows for blood draws without needles.  The line in my chest is 32 centimeters.

This started my journey of having to shower with saran wrap on my arm, not fun.  It was another week before I finally had my biopsy procedure, mostly the fault of the orthopedist.  Sentara brought me three bags of supplies and medicine the night I had my picc line placed.  My first visit from a home health nurse 28th.  On the 2nd I had my byopsy (also we celebrated our 4th Wedding Anniversary).  I started my medicine on the 3rd.  I also found out I was allergic to Vancomycin that day, not a bad allergy, but the crazy bad itching wasn’t  easy to deal with.  The zocyin treated me better.  I started the new medicine, Cubicin on Sunday (Happy Easter).  On the 7th we had a packing party at the house, did I mention we put our house up for sale, yes, we’ve lost our minds.

I shot a wedding on the 11th, I saw my id dr on the 13th, he said everything was looking good, and to keep on with everything the way it was.   I second shot a wedding on the 17th.  Blue left on the 22nd, it was at this point I started seeing some sores under my picc dressing.  My mom and I left on the 23rd for NC, I had a wedding to shoot in Emerald Isle on the 24th.  We had a great time.   By the following week those sores were worse and hurt. I went back to my id dr on the 30th.  Turns out I’m allergic to Zocyn now, I had developed a rash.  I am also allergic to chloraprep, it’s the stuff they use to clean my arm when they do dressing changes.  My dr told me my collar bone looks fantastic. which I agree with, it’s almost flat.  I have permanent bone damage,  I also have scaring on my arm from the chloraprep allergy, by the time we figured out what it was it looked like I had pretty bad burns on my arm.  I’m sure they will fade.

We are hoping the journey with my bone infection will end on Monday.  I have a dr’s appointment. I’m supposed to be getting my Picc line pulled.  Yesterday my collar bone started hurting, I don’t really know what that’s all about, we’ll talk about that before the line comes out, I may be on meds for a bit longer, which is okay, as long as they get it all gone.  I am just looking forward to being healthy again.  I feel normal, well as normal as one can feel with a picc line.  And I can’t wait to shower without the help of saran wrap!

I hope you got something out of my story, it’s been life changing for me, funny thing to say, but I’ll never forget it.  I know I won’t stare are people with bandages on their arms now, and trust me people stare.  I wanted to thank everyone that has helped us through this time. My fantastic husband Andy, both my parents, John and Kathy, and Andy’s parents, Billy and Judy, our brothers and sisters.  Everyone who came to help us pack, Hannibal, Kristina and Eden, we will miss you.  My neighbors who helped take care of Dillon and Blue.  Katie, Danny, and Rochelle… all my wonderful supportive family, co workers, and friends, there are too many to name.

I have kept this post as a draft for several reasons, the most important that I wanted to end it on a bright note. Well I have that now. The PICC line is out, it’s been out for almost two weeks. It’s heaven having my arm back. My doctor told me my collar bone healed “beautifully” and that there are no signs of abnormality with it. My PICC line arm does have some slight scaring from the issues with the dressing, but it’s the least of my worries. I head back for a follow up next month and then hopefully won’t have the need for my infectious disease doctor ever again.

So as I was going through images from recent weddings I came across two I thought I would share with this post. The first, from Leala and Brian’s wedding includes my wonderful second shooter from that day John Cachero, he was a huge help that day, so a special thanks to John. The second is from Tami and Brandon’s beach wedding. Please excuse me as I look a hot mess :o)

Again, thanks to all my friends and family for your support. Thanks to all my brides, grooms, and their friends and family for helping me out when I needed it at your weddings. The good news was the PICC line didn’t hinder my shooting for ya’ll nor my ability to eat cake.
New wedding posts coming within the next few days.

Fondly,
Becca