My Chest Line

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My chest line is now part of me, just like my right arm is.  My chest line is a permanent fixture. 

My line is a soft, hollow tube that is actually about the size of a large drinking straw.  It's main use is to take and return blood from my body.

It is extremely strong and made from medical grade plastic.  The tip of my line has been placed into one of my large blood vessels near the atrium of my heart.  It is placed here because of the large volume of blood flow.  In order to hold it in place, along the line is a cuff.  Gradually over time, my tissue has grown over and in between this small cuff which makes it more solid and holds it in place and more importantly helps stop any bacteria from entering my body through the exit site. 

The hub of my line sits on my chest and I always cover it with a dressing, a biopatch and tape the legs, or lumens, down for safety and of course personal comfort. 

I have two lumens, one blue and one red.  One of my lumens is responsible from carrying my blood out of my body into the machine during the exchange, this lumen is called the Arterial Lumen and is red in colour.  The other lumen returns my blood from the machine back into my body, this is the Venous lumen and is a baby blue colour.
Each lumen has a plastic screw on end cap on it all at times and a clamp sits just above on each line, the clamp does two very vital jobs, firstly stops blood leaking out and secondly stops airs coming in. 

90% of my line is tunelled or hidden away, having it tunelled means it is kept securely in place. 

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