Re: Groshon Port Catheter

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On 11/01/04, jim russell wrote: ﷯﷯
> On 5/18/04, Robin A. Jones wrote: ﷯﷯
>> I had an allergic reaction to a Groshon Port Catheter that ﷯﷯
>> was implanted into my chest wall for infusion of ﷯﷯
>> chemotherapy.  It is still causing problems after they ﷯﷯
>> removed it.  It was in me for over ten months.﷯﷯
>> ﷯﷯
>> Robin﷯﷯
>  I HAVE HAD MY GROSHON FOR 6 WEEKS. IT STAYS PLUGGED AND HAS ﷯﷯
> COST LOTS OF TIME AND $ TO GET CLEAR. THERE SEEMS TO BE A
LOT ﷯﷯
> OF PROBLEMS AND NOT MUCH KNOWLEDGE. I BELIEVE MINE CAUSED A ﷯﷯
> BLOOD CLOT IN MY JUGULAR VEIN!    JR﷯﷯
﷯﷯Hi Jim and Robin,﷯﷯
﷯﷯I'm sorry that you have both had problems with your central
venous access devices. Basically it all boils down to the MD's
and RN's being properly educated about central lines.

I was the top sales rep for a Port-A-Cath and central line
corporation for many years. I covered CA, HI and NV.

You should not be having these problems with your lines. There
are centers that are excellent regarding care of your lines
and then there are those places that are not so expert.

Who is actually implanting your lines? Who is the person
caring for your lines? Do you have experts caring for the
patency and managment of your lines? Are you using home health
agency's or are you going to hospitals or cancer centers?

All of this plays into the management of your central lines.
They should not be getting plugged or blocked and there are
reasons if this is happening. There are many many articles
on "sludge" and so much literature on lines.

You can also call the manufacturer direct and tallk to their
clinical nurse support team. They will answer your questions
for you. Ask for thier "centers of excellence" for the device
that you have. They usually have training centers that they
even send new Surgeons or Interventional Radiologists to, to
learn how to implant the devices and learn all about it.

Problem is, is that this learning needs too get all the way
back to the RN's, MD offices and home health care companies as
well as Univ medical centers and CA centers for the patient to
get the right line treatment.

Ask wherever you are going for care if they have treatment
protocols for your Groshong catheter. Ask if they have
protocols for a clogged line or a line with sludge. If no luck
call BARD. This is the co. that sells Groshong Catheters.

Many medical personnel call a central venous line a Groshong
when it is really NOT a Groshong catheter at all. Groshong was
named after the MD is invented this. His name of course was Dr
Groshong. All of the central venous access device companies
make a central line. Only the Groshong is called Groshong but
many many nurses that are not that well educated, MD's
included call any central line a Groshong when it may be a
1. Cook catheter
2. Smiths catheter(formerly Pharmacia Deltec)
etc co's catheter.

Because Dr Groshong termed the cath. that is why most medical
people call them Groshongs. BARD is the company that has the
Groshong. All the catheters are good. As a former rep, I
believe some of them are better than the others due to the
material that they are made of etc.

Its not the catheter, I would tell you, but those caring for
the catheter. Thats where the problems occur.