Hi I’m Kat, new here…

Hi KC, sorry you find yourself in this club. I am having chemo for TNBC and I managed to persuade the hospital to fit a portacath rather than a PICC line as I was keen to continue as much of my normal exercise as possible. When discussing it with the consultant, she did say it was possible to run with a PICC line, but I couldn’t have continued swimming, which was important to me. In practice chemo does hit your energy levels so there are points in the cycle when you can’t do certain things anyway. I think it’s a case of trial and error, finding what can be done around the PICC line, it’s important it stays dry.

Hi there! Thanks for the reply…I was never offered a portocath no-one even mentioned that, was just either cannula each treatment which they said can causes veins to collapse/drugs leak into tissues, or the picc which they said was safer, easier and most people got it…I didn’t really want the picc but they sort of persuaded me

y‍ea I know some days I’ll not be fit to do much but just for when I am feeling up to it, I’d like to be able to keep my running, it’s such a mood booster for me  

thanks for the advice, yea I guess I’ll just try carefully and see what works  

Hope your treatment is going ok ️

Hi you can run with a picc line in one tip is run with your v mastectomy pillow under your arm then you have to keep your arm stiller picc you will find are preferable to cannula everytime because if you become hard to cannulate they can’t treat you on time plus in later life if you had multiple cannulas they may struggle to place one when you really need it 

I had a PICC line put in for my second treatment.  In this hot weather it has become quite itchy.  My physio is keen that keep up with my exercises.  If it pulls then stop is her view.  The down side is no swimming and not getting it wet. I have a shower cover by Limbo which is good. Sometimes I feel it is another thing to adapt to. I agree a canula for each treatment was a non option. I see the oncology nurse tomorrow so more questions 

Thanks Ricki…I would tend be of that mindset too, keep up as much as possible unless it hurts/pulls…

agree that keeping it dry is a bit of a pain! But counting down the weeks  they gave me shower covers and I’m using cling film too  
1st chemo tomorrow, then I’ll know how I feel for next time! 

Hi KC,

Welcome to the mad house! I, too, was gutted when I realised you couldn't do anything weight bearing with your picc arm. That wasn't really mentioned until after I'd had it put in, but after 3 months of hideous issues with cannula insertion, it was still the right call. I'm still doing some yoga, particularly abdominal floor work, and I've been doing the star jump fundraiser for Macmillan in August, so you can wave your arm around a bit if everything is tucked in. But I'm afraid mostly it's all about the walking!