Port pain - am I the only one?

Hi Keryl,

 I finally agreed to a port for my latest round of chemo and I was really surprised how uncomfortable that process and healing has been! It has been about 2 monnths for me now and it is way better than it was but is still pretty tender when I press on the site. It is much easier (pain wise) when they access it than the regular IVs have been but is sore when I roll over on it at night.

Since it has improved since it was placed I am trusting it will continue!

Hang on...

Hi Keryl, I had a huge love/hate relationship with my port.  I got it out almost one year ago, and I still get phantom port pain at the sight.  I'm like Adrienne, I HATE having my blood drawn, and therefore loved how easy it was to get it done.  I almost miss the simplicity of it. 

 I hated the weird feeling my port gave me, and how it just hurt.  It just plain sucked.  However, it made chemo a whole lot easier, and for that, I loved that wretched thing. 

Hang in there, and check back with us often, okay? 
Love and prayers, Deb

Hi Keryl and All,

          I hated the PORT. I thought it was going to be "no big deal" but that sucka was very tender. I would wake up at night if I rolled over on it and it did hurt for a few months. Of course, it made treatment much easier then poking my veins all the time. I had the little sucka out 1 week after my last treatment. Now I have been dx'd with bone mets and I am petrified that I might have to get it reinstalled. I am seeing the onc on Friday. I know you all wish me luck. One day at a time...

I had PAIN from the day my port was installed.  I could not wait for the surgeon to take it out. 

I even booked an apt to have her take it out the last tx day, not knowing that I had to make sure all my counts are up before I can have it taken out.

My port was taken out 5/9 (2 weeks after last tx) but I still have pain on the scar that the incision created. 

Hey Keryl,

I would like to say ditto to Deb's post except I don't think chemo and easy should be in the same sentence.

I hated my port too. It itched like crazy after the 'hurt' was gone.  I got it out when I had my implants put in last November even though, my onc fought me on that. He wanted me to keep it in for a year. Whatever, I don't care if it makes drawing blood easier on me and the nurses, I wanted that thing out! Like Deb, I still get that "phantom" feeling sometimes. It's very weird.

I am so sorry you are having to go through this girl.

Hugs, Traci

edited to say: PS couldn't tell you about the pool.....the first time I was in one since my dx was actually two weeks ago....good for you for wanting to get in one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have had a port since November 06.

I regularly work out in my pool with swimming and exercising with aquabells.  I have no problems with the port due to exercise.

I have rotten veins,so the port was a no-brainer,but it was one of the worst parts of my treatment.

I  knew the standard was to keep the port in for at least a year after chemo, but I hated that thing so much, I had it out just a few months after my treatments ended. It ached for several months afterward.

It was on the bra-line and since I needed to wear a bra to work, it was constantly irritated -- and irritating.   The muscles under it got very painful.  The scars from my lumpectomy and axillary node dissection are thin lines; the one from my port is still thick and reddish.  A different surgeon did the port, so maybe that was the reason for the difference.

 I did lap swimming all the time and never had a problem with the port.

 Max

Genia - if your port is infected, that is a serious matter according to both my surgeon and oncologist. The first time mine was oozing, I was put on antibiotics right away (Levaquin). Are you on antibiotics now? The second time mine oozed (through a tiny hole) my surgeon sent me to the emergency room to get it removed right away. He said an infection in the port could travel to your heart very quickly. So I hope either you do NOT have an infection, or, if you do, that you're on antibiotics now!

My port was placed last week, 8/28. The surgeon told me there was "less than 1% chance of developing a pneumothorax with placement'. Afterwards, I was tsaken by ambulance to the hospital with a collapsed lung. I had 2 ches tubes in for a week. Got home yesterday, fever of 101. I was put on antibiotics by my onc, as she is wooried it is an infection either of the chest tube sites or my port.

Yes, it is very tender to touch,hutrs when I move, sneeze, cough....

Hope it gets better.

D

Just listening in. Had a port put in and it caused a clot. So I feel if you have pain, see your doctor.

I had my power port placed on 3/03/09.  I had my initial chemo (Adriamycin & Cytoxan) on 3/04/09.  Since then it's been itching like crazy and is quite red around the incision.  I saw the onc PA yesterday 3/18/09 and she said that I had a fungal infection.  Gave me a prescrip. for antibiotics plus an over the counter topical - Lotrimin.  This morning it's prickly and itching just as before.  I can hardly wear a t-shirt because of this.  I have a call into the onc's office and left a msg regarding a possible prescrip for an antihistamine.  Has anyone experienced this problem?

Port Pain is real.  When I had my surgery to place port in, I had been receiving chemo weekly for a year,  Had 1 more year to go, Dr.never informed me about port as an option, I saw them on my weekly chemo dates  with a great group of ladies,  That's how I found out by this time I was stuck so many times that I felt like a human pin cushion,,, I asked for one they scheduled port placement on the morning of my Chemotherapy transfusion. I had no clue as to how invasive it was  Surgery for placement of port this was a true operation, I never thought it was going to be so difficult all I saw was how easy it was for the ladies during chemo,,, No collapsed veins, missed entries,etc,,I awoke being pushe down a corridor on the bed headed for chemo treatment 8 hours worth,  I couldn't believe the hellacious situation I was in nor did I think I was having chemo that day on top of placement I figured a day or so after.. The port was easier when it came to chemo time but the other 61/2 days were filled with pain, aggrevation, even trying to put on the seatbelt in the car was not only difficult but life threatning as the placement was above heart and I was told after placement that If it was to be hit it would could damage heart amongst other anatomy specifics, and I can't stand it when the Dr,'s, Nurses, medical teams question your pain complaints,  How they feel they can tell you what level you will be at and if it is not where you feel it is,,, This was infuriating and degrading also,   How dare they look at you when you are speaking about how different parts of your body where feeling,,  I kept complaining of this pain I was having in my big toe yes big toe well it turned out to be Lupus and the chemo auto immune attack system was triggered to a point I thought I would keel do to the pain,,,, And I did have other legitimate pains I still feel a lot of pain from when I 1st started treatment 5 years ago,  phantom to them real to me!!!! Don't diminish how you feel for anyone  and when you are in the throws of cancer sometimes the pain may be related to other problems not just the cancer,  and the pain can be caused by the chemo,,, I didn't have much naseau at all, they had a hard time digesting that also,,,  so be good to yourself   dangle a prize in front of yourself for the end of each cycle, treatment  support the economy charge it if you have to but treat yourself to something you would have waited to do,,, YOU DESERVE IT!!!!

My port was put in last October 14, same day I had my first chemo.I had TCH, so was infused weekly.I am glad I had the port,but it is coming out on Wednesday and I will do my last ten herceptins through my arm. My last chemo was January 29 and as I get more active, the port is more and more uncomfortable.I also found mine was more irritating right after chemo.The worst part for me is the catheter in my neck, I lost weight and it is so close to the surface of the skin now.But in a few days it will just be a memory. Jackie

had my port "installed" 2/1, first AC treatment on 2/4 - it took forever for them to get the needle in, due to all the swelling. two subsequent treatments, no problem. last week, all of a sudden, the port started feeling hurty & itchy ... i thought maybe i slept on it wrong. for last week's treatment, it took three nurses 4 or 5 tries to get the needle in. and then the infusion ran sluggish. i saw the surgeon this morning, he says it feels like it's in place just fine, and let's wait and see what happens next week. otherwise there's not much he can do, other than taking it out - and i don't think i can have one placed on the left side, due to all the nodes i've had removed.

i'm going to try arnica cream for a few days, and then ice it up before my next infusion, but i wish i knew what was going on with the damn thing.