TE TROUBLE

Hi I live in England and my port was used for my chemo and now for my herceptin and taking blood but when ever I have an operation and am given an aneasthetic they put it in through a vein in my arm. They know I have a port so I assumed there was a reason it could not be used. Has anyone had their port used for anaethesia? Let me know and I will push for it when I have my next op. Debbie

DLL66-love the idea of what you've done. Why not have fun, I thinki it's great.

Again there is no reason you can't have your port used for anesthesia other than they aren't aware of how to access it. They could get a chemo nurse come do it for them, it is only for their convenience they are putting it in your arm, I know I am an OR nurse and deal with this all the time. Push it, they are just banking on you not knowing better.

Chick-I am laughing as I read your post.  When I first picked my ps and was preparing for the mastectomy/reconstruction, I sent him a bunch of questions based on what I read here. He called me, gave me the answers and when I said "well, on breast cancer.org, other Ps's are doing such and such." He told me to quit reading here and to trust him. He gave me his cell number and said I want you to call me with questions. Don't get your answers off the internet. That went a long way with me. He is very gifted scar wise. About the only complaint is that he is fairly young, so he doesn't have a huge experience base. He is connected with my BC surgeon, who thinks he is amazing, and that says a lot, because she is too.

I told him when all this is done, however, I was going to rewrite his surgery instructions, because they are just not detailed enough. LOL

chickadee521, I took 2 weeks off for each surgery, but I had a lat flap in July & just had one on the other side last week. 1 week out I feel well enough to get out of the house, but my job would require too much reaching & bending at this point for me to handle.

fluffqueen01, sounds like you have a great PS!

Yep. I'm thinking you would be fine to sub a few days after.

My PS does do fat grafting.

dll66 -I am doing OK, thanks for asking.  How are you feeling?  No allergic problems with the antibiotic, but I think it is giving me a stomachache.  Oh well, as long as it gets rid of the UTI.  I went to a farewell BBQ for my DH's boss out at the beach - so hot!

My PS did say that fat grafting is often a long process as a lot of the grafted fat dies, it can be a fairly repetitive process.  The nice upside is lipo to those harvest areas!

Hi Bev I live in the North East of England in Tynemouth which is a village on the coast near Newcastle upon Tyne. Where did you live? I am having problems with my RHS which was removed prophalactically. My LHS where I had cancer has been fine. I have had chemo and radiotherapy on the LHS. The radiotherapy was draining and I only had to travel !/2 an hour there and 1/2 an hour back. The machines kept breaking down so your appointment was held up and you had to sit around for ages. Sometimes they rang to say come in a couple of hours later than your appointment time which messed up your whole day but in the grand scheme of things it was not too bad. It is more frustrating to have all these problems on my RHS when there was nothing wrong in the first place. What kind of reconstruction are you having after your radiotherapy? How long have they said you should expect to have to wait until you can start your radiotherapy? How many shots of radiotherapy are you having?

I have been to the hospital again today and they are very pleased with my healing.It is still oozing fluid but they dont want it to dry out totally because a moist wound heals better according to them. They have repacked it with some special seaweed packing which promotes rapid healing and I have to go back agin on Monday. This healing is taking over my life.

Keep in touch Debbie

My ps said at least 2 times with the fat grafting. Once at exchange and once at nipple reconstruction. Just not convinced cleavage is worth it. Especially if they are moveable unlike the TE.

debbiey-yes I have the same thing as you, it is a portacath and yes it can be used for anesthesia, of course I won't be using it tom cause it's coming out-yeah.

DLL66-thanks. Naps are great, don't need one today though. BF and I laid in bed talking and watching TV til 11am-total bums.

So I guess I'd better actually pack and get clothes caught up with laundry. Hope everyone has a great relaxing Sunday.

susan8267 - don't let any of this scare you - the people who have not had any issues are not on here posting!  They are out in the world living their lives.  Think of how many are on these threads compared to how many have surgery, it is a small percentage! 

Hi Debbie, I just love Newcastle.......best accent in the UK!!, I was from Heathrow and dont miss it at all, BC is the best place on earth!.  I had my BMX on 26th Aug, with immediate recon (expanders), the plan was to expand then do 5 weeks radiotherapy...........i got an infection on my tumour side and could not get rid of the fluid, was in hospital for a week on antibiotics, but it opened up so just had them removed, now the same side has opened up again half way across, the fluid has gone but how they will heal this i dont know..i dont know if they can re stitch?? (anyone know???), but it doesnt seem to get better, i am calling the PS tomorrow as it has opened more over the weekend.  I just want it to heal so that i can complete my treatment, then look at surgery again once thats complete, although i am scared now in case it happens again...............although as i have read here there are many women who have this issue, and they go on to have a successful op.  My other thought is with the dorsi L, but i am sceptical because of the length of time it takes to operate.........i got a small embolism in my lung from the mastectomy surgery and am now on injection blood thinners, so i dont know if that will be an option.  anyway i am going on and on sorry so many things to say!!!!!!  Im pleased you are finally healing!!!, did you have your expanders removed???? have a great weekend, was great chatting B:)

bevdurrant: I had a lat flap surgery on one side. Took a little less than 2 hrs versus 4 hrs for my BMX with immediate recon.