Has anyone had a plurex catheter? Something weird just happened.

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ovarian_support
ovarian_support Member Posts: 44
in Ovarian Cancer #1

Warning, if you have a weak stomach please stop reading now, this is gross and not too much weirds me out.  OK, so my mom has had the plurex catheter installed in her right plurel cavity maybe 2-3 weeks ago.  I set her up and do the draining which has steadly been decreasing over the past week.  Yesterday, we only got about 25ml from it, but we thought since we moved to a smaller bottle, maybe we were getting less suction.  Today since she was feeling more short of breath than she was yesterday she wanted to use the one large bottle we had left.  Also, she laid down on the couch for the draining instead of sitting at the table.  We got 375ml and found that more came on inhalation which makes sense.  There was no pain.  The weird part came when I went to empty the bottle, it wouldn't empty.  I tried widening the hole with my finger (fyi, i was wearing latex gloves) it had little effect.  We thought we could see something solid in the bottle, when I shoke the bottle gelatinous material started coming out, I pulled it out and we double bagged it and put it in a air tight container in the fridge to show to the doctor.  Naturally this happened at 5:45pm on a Friday.  We will call the doctor on Monday, but has anyone had this happen?  Is this normal?  My mother does feel much better after that.  It looks like clear tissue, but maybe it's part of the bottle we haven't seen.  Nothing about this in the FAQ of the plurex site, nothing in our instructions from the doctor.

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  • Alexandra
    Alexandra Member Posts: 1,308
    #2
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    Hi Melissa

    Found by googling...

    Pleural fluid viscosity is influenced by cellular constituents and macromolecular composition, whose major component is protein. Malignant pleural effusions demonstrate high expression of mucin, thus increasing pleural fluid viscosity. When malignant fluid has been present for a while inside the chest, the proteins in the fluid begin to thicken. Instead of thin fluid like water, the material becomes more like jelly.  When this happens, it can become too thick sometimes to come out of the tiny holes in the Pleurx catheter. Input from a thoracic surgeon and drainage through a thicker tube may be needed.

    I hope your mom feels better soon.

     

  • ovarian_support
    ovarian_support Member Posts: 44
    #3
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    Alexandra said:

    Hi Melissa

    Found by googling...

    Pleural fluid viscosity is influenced by cellular constituents and macromolecular composition, whose major component is protein. Malignant pleural effusions demonstrate high expression of mucin, thus increasing pleural fluid viscosity. When malignant fluid has been present for a while inside the chest, the proteins in the fluid begin to thicken. Instead of thin fluid like water, the material becomes more like jelly.  When this happens, it can become too thick sometimes to come out of the tiny holes in the Pleurx catheter. Input from a thoracic surgeon and drainage through a thicker tube may be needed.

    I hope your mom feels better soon.

     

    Thanks

    Thanks, we weren't too sure about what it was.  This is a huge relief.

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