After getting information about your options, talk with the doctor about the merits of each type of catheter and ask for his opinion. Talk about the pros and cons with your child, if she is old enough. You can ask parents and children which type of catheter they chose and why. You will probably hear many opinions about the benefits and drawbacks of each type of catheter. In some cases, you won’t have a choice.

The doctor told us that the cytogenetics results would determine whether my son got a port or a Hickman®. If he was very high risk, they preferred to use a double-lumen Hickman®, but if he was high risk, they would implant a port. In the meantime, they put in a PICC line and started chemo. When the cytogenetics results came back several days later, they pulled the PICC line and put in the port.

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We didn’t have a choice. Nico had a fever for a while after he was diagnosed. We were told if it was from an infection, there was a risk the port would just end up infected. So a PICC was placed after he’d been fever-free for a month. Personally, we hated the PICC. It required daily flushing and Nico could smell/taste the flush. He screamed every time. Bathing made me nervous. It was hard to ensure it wouldn’t end up submerged, so he got sponge baths. The PICC also required weekly sterile dressing changes. He was only two years old and we had to hold him down to change the dressing. We were glad to be rid of it.

The nurses in the clinic and on the unit are another source of valuable information. They will have seen dozens (or hundreds) of children with catheters, and they can give excellent advice. There is no right or wrong choice, just different options for each unique child.

My 4-year-old daughter Christine loved ballet and was extremely interested in her appearance. Her younger sister was very physical, and we were worried that if we chose the Hickman® her toddler sister would grab and pull on the tubing. We chose the PORT-A-CATH® so that Christine could wear her tutus without reminders of cancer, and so the children could play together without mishap.

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We chose the Hickman® for Shawn because we didn’t want any needles coming at him. He spent almost the whole first year in the hospital, so it saved him from so many pokes. The line was a blessing. He went 3 years and 3 months with no infections. We thought it was just a beautiful thing.

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We didn’t get a choice when my daughter needed a stem cell transplant. They needed to put in two Broviac® lines to accommodate all of the meds, fluids, and TPN [total parenteral nutrition] she needed for the procedure. I remember seeing six bags hanging up at once. I did the dressing changes, and we didn’t have any trouble with the lines throughout her recuperation.