Hi Kylie,
Sounds like your mum and I have the same problem with our dodgy veins! I HATE having to go to get blood taken - you know there are going to be problems, but when it's a new person they wont listen to you and assure you that they will have no trouble whatsoever finding a vein....then 15 minutes and 5 goes later they realise that they should have listened to you in the first place and tried the vein that you yourself suggested!
I'm seriously thinking about the PICC line now. I was afraid about the whole infection thing associated with portacaths, but I was also afraid that my 1 year old would pull out the PICC line. It sounds like it's tucked out of the way when not in use, so when I go in tomorrow for chemo and radiation (I've just been diagnosed with non hodgkins lympoma as well - geez I've got the best luck!), I'm going to see if they will put one in. From memory they just use a local for a PICC line, but a general anesthetic for a portacath, is that correct?
Well, I'm over my surgery, have my bad ovary gone, bad lymphnodes in my groin gone, but also have been told that my remaining ovary also has cancerous cells that while in early stages are extremely aggressive - hence the radiation therapy tomorrow, as well as for the lymphoma.
Hopefully tomorrow won't be too brutal - but I'm certainly preparing myself for it!
Take Care everyone, and best wishes,
Joanna xo