Pleurx catheter

thinkpositive

Anyone have a pleurx catheter to drain fluid from the lung? I am getting one this Friday. Would love to hear about your experience.

Longtermsurvivor

Hi ThinkPositive,

A member of bcmets.org is having one placed on Thursday - https://www.bcmets.org/articles/177768

Here's my response to her from 9/25. https://www.bcmets.org/articles/177769

I apologize for not having the strength to craft a new answer for you.

Bestbird and others here have done well with the pleurx for lung mets. May you too do well!

warmest healing wishes, Stephanie

Bestbird

I was very pleased with the Pleurx catheter, which I had for about 6 weeks. The time you have it will vary depending on how quickly your systemic treatment words to dry up the fluid.

The home health care nurse taught my husband and me how to drain the fluid at home, and I had complete mobility and was able to shower. It wasn't at all painful. Just remember to drain slowly (at least when you start) by slightly squeezing the clip to slow down the suction.

When you have it implanted and removed, you should be under some sort of anesthesia, and you should have no discomfort afterwards.

Sending you best wishes!

Longtermsurvivor

I had my catheter implanted with local anesthesia and a little happy medicine. They were ready to give me a whole lot of happy medicine, but I wanted to see the live action shots on the screens...:)

healing wishes think positive and Bestbird, Stephanie

LindaF

Although this is an old thread, I want to share that I had my Pleurx catheter placed on 13 Dec 2017. It is a godsend, went in easily and as described above, and my spouse drains me every 4 days. The amount has been slowly but steadily decreasing. I am hoping to get some answers as to when I might be able to have it removed. I want to be able to swim this summer. My oncologist admitted he was reluctant to order the Pleurx as it has not seemed to be helpful in his experience, but that perhaps he had been using it too late in treatment. I have been singing its praises, it has given me my life back. I can breathe, I can brisk-walk my daily 2 miles. I have energy again. Makes all the difference.

Chicagoan

Hi Linda-I had a Pleurex catheter for 5 or 6 months. Eventually I was able to have it removed because thanks to the Ibrance/Letrozole, the fluid dried up. Hope you can get yours removed too-sounds like things are going in the right direction as they fluid gradually decreases. I agree though that the catheter was a blessing while I had it-I felt much better when the fluid could be drained during the week. Best wishes.

JS527

Hi,

I'm new to this forum...

My mom was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer mets to lung and bone on October 2017. She has been having recurrent large pleural effusions on the right side. She was getting thoracentesis every 2 to 3 weeks for the past 3 months, but recently (3 weeks ago) opted to get a Pleurx catheter placed instead in hopes that her fluid will dry up soon. Just 2 weeks after the insertion, she started having fevers, chills, nausea, and vomiting. I took her to the ER and she was admitted. They found an infection in her pleural fluid and pneumonia. She's been getting treated for the infection but found that her pleura was becoming fibrous and we are unable to drain her completely. Certain solutions were injected into the catheter (tpA) and it broke up the fibrin but now she's getting bright red blood out of the catheter. After a couple more days, they decided to inject tpA again since she still had fibrous material blocking the drainage. She was drained again with more bloody output. The doctors were saying that if she continues to have blockage, the next option is surgery, but she is probably not a candidate for surgery.

I'm just wondering if anyone else is having complications like my mom is with the pleural effusion and if so, what solution was there to fix the problem? She was doing decent before the pleurx insertion, essentially was asymptomatic even with large pleural effusions, able to go out and enjoy her life. Now, she has an infection and has been in the hospital for a week. She barely has enough energy to walk around now. I'm afraid the pleurx might have been a bad idea...

I would greatly appreciate anyone with any input. I am feeling so lost and helpless right now. Wish I can make my mom go back to how she was before all these complications occurred.