Another bump in the road

Dear friends,

I would really appreciate your prayers yet again with this latest turn of events.
 

To recap, in February, I had sepsis from a central line infection. A PICC line was placed because my Hickman central line had to be surgically removed due to the infection. I had that PICC until April 4th, the day of my port surgery. About a week later, my port incision severely reacted to the dermabond (surgical glue), so the doctors advised I use strong antibiotic/steroid ointment over the site, stop using my port, and get PICC line #2. About a month later, my port site was healed well enough to get my PICC line pulled and my port re-accessed. Things were going great port-wise for about 2 months (I bet you can guess where this is going.. 😩).

But then, several weeks ago, my site developed a small welt/rash, so I was de-accessing a day early each week to put a bunch of Benadryl gel, cream, and Active Skin Repair on it. Last week, the home health nurse couldn’t access my port and get it to flush/draw blood (this has never happened before). It took 4 pokes to get the Huber needle in the right place. We’re not sure if it’s because of that (plus the hot weather temps and/or a mast cell activation flare-up), but my skin has gotten much worse and not better as time goes on. I’m not sleeping well because it itches SO much, and I’m scratching all day, every day, wanting to rip out my port needle. 😭

De-accessing one day a week to put a bunch of cream on has not been enough time to let my skin heal, so my GI specialist has decided it’s best to get PICC line #3 temporarily placed. And I’m so bummed and sad about that, especially because my arms don’t tolerate PICC lines well—I have scarring all over my upper arms from reacting to the PICC tape. 😔  Could you please pray that my port site will heal completely and that my arm won’t itch terribly? My GI dr. marked this as “urgent” so it’s scheduled for this Sunday at 8:15 in the morning.

I sure wish I could have a break from all this. But, even though it’s so very hard living with a mitochondrial disease and needing chronic IV access, I know with every setback and bump in the road that God is faithful and sovereign. ❤️

I love this little hymn by John Newton which I just read in my devotional last night—a “God wink” so to speak. 😉 It’s a perfect reminder that the Lord always sees me through these trials. 🩵

“His love in time past forbids me to think

He’ll leave me at last in trouble to sink;

Each sweet Ebenezer I have in review

Confirms His good pleasure to help me quite through.”