Dried vain due to chemo?

Margun

I had lost arm stiffness and arm discomfort for awhile. When I slightly twisted my arm a concave line appeared so I thought i pulled a muscle. Today i was taking My herceptin infusion and showed that line to the nurse. She said it is a vain dryed due to chemo and nothing can be done about that. Anyone heard such thing and it is not worrisome that this can crate a blood pumping or other problem

Cowgirl13

I'm so sorry to hear this. This can happen and its why some people have a port put in. Any chance you can have a port put in?

exbrnxgrl

I second what cowgirl wrote. You have not made your dx public, but if you still have a while to go on herceptin and your veins are starting to get trashed, a port may be worth looking into. I can only use my right arm for infusions so my port, now in it’s eighth year, has saved my veins. Take care

Margun

My dx is that I am triple positive and 10 herceptin to go.. the port is connected to the vain I guess and if chemo is drying vains it would harm the vain as well? From what you wrote I am assuming that the numerous IV insertions are causing this problem. The problem is local where they put the needles or can be generated anywhere in the body

exbrnxgrl

When you have a port, generally placed somewhere on the upper chest, the port is the point of entry for the infusion, not a vein. The port itself is like a little connector placed between the two ends of the vein that has been cut. Kind of like a connector on a child’s building set. The connector has a permeable area that the needle is inserted into, so the infusion then flows into the vein. Your vein is not the entry point for the needle, the permeable part of the port is so your vein is not pierced by the needle. There is no damage to the vein because it is not the point of entry for the needle.

MountainMia

Margun, I have a vein in my chemo arm that seems to have died. Like your description, it shows a concave line now where the vein used to be. The line was dark at first but now doesn't seem to have color, just the indent. Everything else works fine, so I guess I won't worry about it. I am not having more infusions since chemo.

Cowgirl13

Exbrnxgrl, excellent description! I had no idea.