Port today, gosh I'm scared.

Anonymous

It just seems like THIS makes it real. And it's gonna be a long day, without coffee I might add! Have to be at surgeon's to fill out paperwork and go over the procedure at 11:45, then straight to hospital for pre op, but surgery is not till 3:30 PM. Too much time in between to get myself all weirded out about it. ((sigh)) Thanks for listening. I'll let you know how it goes. Have a beautiful day ladies.

Jinx27

Hey Birdie65!

It really does make it real. This is the moment when I began to have some fear, but it subsided later on. From what I've been told, having a port is great for us. Keep holding in and best wishes for today. When you get home just rest okay ?

Anonymous

Jinx...thank you.

Skittlegirl

Good luck today. I am sure that everything will go fine. Definitely check back in tonight. My neck was a bit sore afterwards, but not too painful.

KCinMN

Birdie - good luck to you, especially without the coffee!

My port area was sore and uncomfortable for about a week after placement. I think part of it was where they placed it; it was under a bra strap.

Anyway, I mention it not to scare you... But to say it's normal, and it will get better! And it will make chemo/blood draws so easy! They'll probably prescribe you Emla/numbing cream... If not, ask for it. Use it!

Your post caught my eye because I'm actually getting my port REMOVED today! Hopefully anyway. I had chemo this summer/fall and I'm praying Im done with that for good. There's light at the end of the tunnel!

Hugs! :

Anonymous

Thanks Skittle and Kcin. Fingers crossed for your port removal today Kcin

mustlovepoodles

I know it's scary, Birdie, but the port placement really is a pretty easy procedure. Usually they give you sedation for it--they gave me propofol and I never knew a thing. Afterward, my site was sore for about a week, but not awful. It didn't keep me awake at night.

The best thing about having a port is that it's easier to stick than trying to find my veins. All my good veins are on my right arm, and of course, that would be my BX & SNB side. At first I tried to be brave and let them have at the left arm to draw blood work, but finally I gave in. I have a port for a reason, let's use it.

You can ask your doctor for a prescription for EMLA cream, if you like. Personally, I have only used it once. I didn't think it helped all that much and accessing my port is not very painful at all. They just pop in the needle, cover it with dressing, and I'm good to go. When I'm done, they just pop it out and I'm off to the races.

ElaineTherese

Best wishes for your port insertion surgery! Yes, getting a port is a very tangible step toward treatment. I thought my surgery went OK. I just finished a year of Herceptin, but I'm keeping my port for awhile. It's been so convenient for heart scans, PET scans, blood work, etc.

Holeinone

Birdie, getting the port placed was a cake walk compared to other surgeries.

The tube going into the vein was not painful, but bugged me. My surgeon said I did not have enough fat to pad it. I lost weight before & after dx.

Hope this procedure was quick & easy for you. Now, take it easy.

Anonymous

Well, that was quite a little trip, I must say! I got my port last Wednesday, today is Monday, and I was in the la la land of the Flu in between. Honestly the surgery was not bad, my port is a bit uncomfortable but getting better, but I managed to catch a killer bug in the hospital. It actually upsets me that this happened but I'm told it's quite common. I got incredibly sick and it made the whole port insertion event unnecessarily awful. 1st chemo is tomorrow but I will not be surprised if they delay it till I feel better. I did call but was told to come on in for blood work. Take care ladies!

ksusan

Best of luck!

Anonymous

Sitting in my first chemo. Port was accessed easily, 1st try, with no pain. I did use EMLA cream 2 hours prior. Cute hubby for company all day. So far so good

ksusan

Very good news!

Anonymous

Sequence of events: Acess port, hang saline, then came tarteted drug Perjeta for 1 hour. Then 1 hour of nothing but observation for any reactions. All good. Then they hung taregeted drug Herceptin. This one also an hour. Buy this time, though, I'm full of extra liquid snd had to unplug myself and lug my stuff to the potty twice, lol! Thid I would repeat many times during the long day. I'm 59 and when I got to go I got to go! I made a point of wearing a poise pad to this long appointment just to be sure and comfortable about it. So then comes the bad boy, Taxotere. Before I could have this major drug, the hair stealer, I had to have two separate bags of anti nausea medicine and steroids. I did not get the name of them but I will next time. That took probably 30-45 minutes to drain those then the nurse hung the Taxotere which took a full hour and a half + bathroom breaks. After the Taxotere came Carboplatin for another hour. Then flush port, add a Herceptin block so it does not clot, remove needle, and off we went. After another potty trip! This was an 8 hour in the chair day. The rest will be at least 2 hours shorter because they can drip faster since I tolerated it well. The next two weeks will be short 30 minute appointments of Herceptin only drips, then another long for drug infusion. And so on for the next four and a half months. I'm extremely comfortable with the chemo nurses, my Dr., and his treatment plan. What a relief! Hang in there ladies I'm with you in spirit!

Thr_yet

I don't want to scare anyone, but port placement is not just an "easy" surgery. It has risks and people should be made aware of those before the procedure. I had my port placement on Tuesday afternoon and the nurse told me the same thing (easy) and I think she jinxed me.When I came to, the left side was a "failure" because the surgeon couldn't find a vein so it was on the right side, same side as my lumpectomy. Two incision sites and pain from both. I also could not breath - my knowledge was limited so I thought it was from the chest pain and back pain. They admitted me overnight. An x-ray was done - port was in place. The night was plain misery. My voice changed - sounded very nasal and I couldn't catch my breath if I did anything more than sit. I asked to walk because I hated not getting any exercise and that wasn't much fun either. Ended up getting about 2-1/2 hours of sleep that night. Next morning - same thing - can't catch my breath and nasal voice. Repeatedly told nurses and surgeon that I was having trouble breathing. I was discharged. Came home - trouble breathing but glad to be home and resumed some "normal" activities. Thursday morning I ran my cold caps to the hospital because I was supposed to start chemo on Friday. I called the surgeon's office and left a message telling them I still couldn't breathe and had crepitus (sounds like rice krispies under the skin). Right after I got home they called back and said to go back to the hospital for an x-ray. The hospital is about a 30 minute drive and we have some icy roads around here. Back for an x-ray and the tech told me to leave because it would take an hour, probably, before someone would read it. Half-way home and they call and tell me to go back because my left lung is collapsed. The surgeon will be up in an hour or two and insert a chest tube. I went home and packed a bag and called my hubby to take me back down. BTW, he's already been down earlier to take the caps down but forgot some of them (hence my first trip). They are hovering over me when I arrive because I have a total collapse and have been walking around with it for a couple of days. Surgeon inserted the chest tube with a Heimlich valve and I'm admitted to the local hospital. They treat me like royalty locally and I felt well-cared for. But, I am on a blood thinner so I am oozing and have about 3 inches of padding around me. However, Friday morning comes and now the surgeon and the rounds doc disagree over the rest of my treatment. Because the x-rays show consolidation, due to the collapse, the rounds doctor calls it pneumonia and orders blood cultures and an antibiotic. The surgeon and radiologist say the consolidations are from the collapse. The rounds doctor calls my oncology group and they say "NO" to chemo on Friday. The surgeon does not have final say because of "privileges" status so I am now in limbo again. I am home, still wearing the valve, in pain - but I can breath, and have no idea if and when I can get back to work, when chemo is going to start, etc. I have more "padding" including a towel to catch any oozing and hopefully the tube will be pulled on Monday without any more complications.My final thought about a cancer diagnosis - you want to save your life, "they" want to save your life, BUT it is no longer "your" life. I feel like a pawn on a game board. I am being moved from space to space with no say in anything. "This is your treatment, go do this, do that, now this, then that." I am so frustrated.

exbrnxgrl

Thr yet,

I am so sorry to hear the harrowing story of your lung collapse. I too had a complete pneumothorax after my port installation. Mine was more like a nick of the lung that slowly deflated over the course of two weeks and I had the "rice crispy" sounds too. An unrelated PET scan showed the pneumo and I was told to get to the ER ASAP. After a brutally painful chest tube insertion, I spent a week in the hospital and needed two additional chest tube insertions. I too went home with a Heimlich valve, which stayed in for a month.

However... Port surgery is indeed simple and generally uneventful. The chances of a lung puncture are about 1% . An x-ray is taken after the procedure to make sure the lung is not punctured, so the odds of this not being caught are really, really low. Unfortunately you and I fell into that minuscule minority. My point is that lung puncture, while a known risk, is very unlikely to happen and should not discourage anyone from getting a port. There are no guarantees in life. We all decide how much risk we are willing to accept. 1% chance of lung puncture? You are in much greater dangerevery time you drive your car.