port removal - long wait!

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StaceyR
StaceyR Member Posts: 136
edited June 2014 in Canadians Affected by Breast Cancer

Well, I'm a little bummed. I had my last chemo on Thursday, so I'm ready to move forward and put things behind me.  But here in Ottawa, apparently there is a SIX MONTH wait to get a port taken out.  I'm flabbergasted by this.  My oncologist said if I lived out of town, I might get in quicker at a regional hospital.  But holy!

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  • Jule
    Jule Member Posts: 250
    edited September 2008

    Oh, I can't even imagine. That is the first that I can't wait to get rid of. My last day was Sept 2, and I am having it out on the 25th only because my surgery is scheduled for then. I feel for you...I hated having one even though I understood the point of it.

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  • Caya
    Caya Member Posts: 971
    edited September 2008

    Stacey -

    That sounds a little fishy to me.  I was treated at Mt. Sinai in Toronto, and when my onc. gave me the okay to have it out, the radiology department set it up for about 2 weeks later. 

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  • lisa39
    lisa39 Member Posts: 255
    edited September 2008

    Stacey,

    Maybe you should start what I like to refer to as the sqeaky wheel campaign.  Keep calling your doc and complaining - nicely.  Tell them the port is painful and that it's giving you a hard time.  Find out who schedules port removals and call them too!!!! When you're dealing with a public health care system like ours, you have to be your own advocate. You get results when you keep reminding them that you're around.

    Good luck.

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  • StaceyR
    StaceyR Member Posts: 136
    edited September 2008

    That's a good tip, Lisa.  I actually considered directly calling the "special procedures unit".  One of the senior nurses there practically became my friend after they (sort of) botched the original insertion (nicked my lung, had to have a chest tube put in and go for follow-up chest x-rays almost every day until it healed).  Maybe some "squeaking" is in order indeed!

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  • lisa39
    lisa39 Member Posts: 255
    edited September 2008

    Go for it - call the "special procedures unit" especially if you have a senior nurse in your corner there.  Let us know how it goes.

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  • StaceyR
    StaceyR Member Posts: 136
    edited January 2009

    So I finally got some good news on this.  I don't know if it's like this everywhere in Canada, but I learned recently that I could wait up to a YEAR in Ottawa to get the port removed.  Yikes.  Someone said if I was willing to travel, I could maybe speed up the process, so I asked about that this week.  And just like that I've got a date in TWO WEEKS, in Cornwall (about 90 minutes away).  I'm quite pleased with this development.  Out, out, damn port!

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  • lexislove
    lexislove Member Posts: 2,645
    edited January 2009

    I'm in B.C.,  but I scheduled my port out a couple of months before. I knew my las Herceptin would be Nov 17 2008, so I scheduled it for Nov 25 2008.

    I'm glad you got your date for 2 weeks!

    Fabulous its nice to have that thing out!

    *good luck*

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  • StaceyR
    StaceyR Member Posts: 136
    edited January 2009

    Thanks :)

    Sounds like you were on top of things.  I had no idea that the wait would be so long or I would have booked it long before..!  I'm pretty psyched to have it gone.

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