ouch ouch vascular access systems....port a cath?

AimeeFaye
AimeeFaye Member Posts: 74
edited June 2014 in Managing Side Effects of Breast Cancer and Its Treatment

Ouch... cranky ouch!  Maybe this is nothing, but when does one start to worry and do something?  Port a cath ("Vital Port" vascular access system) surgically implant five days ago, little pain until tonight.  And of course its worse at night!!!  no fever, no apparent swelling, hunting for info online.  Anyone had any experience with these things?  Doc suggests I could have it in for "years" so I want to make friends with this baby now...but it is cranky tonight... can even tell you where the end of the tube sits!  Anyone out there used these things?

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  • TenderIsOurMight
    TenderIsOurMight Member Posts: 4,493
    edited July 2008

    Aimee, just bumping this up for you and other port users.

    Tender

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  • Jen44
    Jen44 Member Posts: 631
    edited July 2008

    Hey Aimeefay,

    I had the same problem with my port.  It would be fine and then it would start to really hurt for some reason.  I found that putting a warm compress on it and taking Tylenol would help.  Sometimes if you move wrong, raise your arm a certain way, or accidentally knock it can cause it to act up.  I will tell you that the longer I had it the less it hurt.  It takes the body a while to adjust to having a foreign object in it.  I hope this helps and I hope you feel better soon.

    Keep laughing,

    Jenny

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  • AimeeFaye
    AimeeFaye Member Posts: 74
    edited August 2008

    Hi Jenny:  just knowing that someone else has had this makes a difference!  I went on line to look at "side effects" and (again) got a little too much info!  I will try the warm compress too.  I did have my doc look at it and he did take blood tests (to look for infection I guess), but there is no redness, no swelling, just cranky sometimes still.  And tired.  I'll be glad when it passes.

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  • AimeeFaye
    AimeeFaye Member Posts: 74
    edited August 2008

    Hi Tender: what does "bumping this up" mean?  What did you do?  Can you tell I am really new to discussion boards?

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  • Sassa
    Sassa Member Posts: 1,588
    edited August 2008

    AimeeFaye,

    Bumping means writing a post so that the thread "bumps" (come back up) to the top of the topic listings.

    I also had a port and I found it pretty much ached and pinched for about the first 3 months.  After that the pain slowly decreased over time. 

    It is now 1 3/4 years since it was implanted and it very rarely bothers me.  I noticed some aching when the port is flushed or used.

    I was told by my chemo nurse that some people have no pain from the ports, some of us do.  You and I are just lucky!Wink

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  • HeatherBLocklear
    HeatherBLocklear Member Posts: 1,370
    edited August 2008

    Hi all,

    My port has bothered me from the first day. I think it always will, and I can't wait to get it out (that may not be until next February if I decide to go through with the clinical trial which specifies Avastin for 13 months).

    It aches, it feels strange, it is always, always THERE. It hurts if I stretch my neck too much, turn my head suddenly, or lie on it. It sits on top of my collarbone like an alien snake in my body, visible and ugly to me and the rest of the world. A stigma of cancer; my own scarlet letter.

    Ports suck and then you get well.

    Love,

    Annie

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  • NancyD
    NancyD Member Posts: 3,562
    edited August 2008

    I've had my port in for six months now. At first, there was the usual pain from the implantation...stitches and the area around it getting used to the foreign object. But by the time it started getting use, it had settled into not being an issue.

    Now, I'm a couple of weeks away from my last chemo and the dang thing is really starting to annoy me. It got sore after my last chemo, and took a couple of days to settle down again. That never happened before. Like Annie, it's another visible reminder to me of my illness. Thankfully, it's one that will be removed in few weeks.

    It's done its job, and for that, I'm very thankful. The ports are the easiest way to get the chemo into you. Even though I have "good" veins, I would not want them sticking me for those infusions. It's bad enough when they stick my veins for blood draws (for some reason, they never use the port for that). Sometimes, they are good stickers, sometimes not...it all depends on the nurse...and when it's only a blood draw, you're not in much danger. But if they stick your vein wrong for an infusion you can end up with chemo meds leaking into your arm. Not good.

    Looking at your tag line, I see that you are stage IV which probably does mean you will be getting treatments for a long time. I would get the port and see how it goes. I think your veins will thank you.

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