I am so scared. Question about port cath

I have never had heart problems and hopefully won't from my treatments, but I have a port a cath put in twice. The first time they numbed me up and gave me something to relax me. I remained awake and they had finished before I realized they started. The second time, same anesthetics and so on but I was sleep deprived and tired and fell asleep.

I am wondering if they want to intubate you as a precaution so they have an airway if you do experience heart problems. I would ask about this.

As far as going off the blood thinners, I am not telling you this to scare you, I just want you to know what I wish I knew at the time. My grandfather had a clotting disorder that made him clot too easily and had to go off blood thinners to have a pacemaker implanted. The surgery went fine and they kept him over night. I called him the next day and his speech sounded slurred. I asked if he was on pain killers and he said no. I asked him why he sounded like that and he said he always sounded like that in the morning (I wouldn't know because I typically called him in the evening), ok, whatever, maybe he didn't have his bridge in.

They sent him home the next day. The next day we discovered he had been taken back to the hospital by ambulance as he had formed a blood clot while off the blood thinners and had had a massive, hemorrhagic stroke. It was only after this that his girlfriend divulged that the hospital violated good standards of care and sent him home when could barely walk, which was not normal for him. I realized that the slurred speech and walking problems were actually from the blood clot, before it lodged where it did finally did and caused the bleeding. Here is the thing. His doctor, who was on vacation at the time this transpired, said if caught early enough the hemorrhagic stroke could have been preventable but he would have had to have been at another hospital a few miles away.

So the take away from this is, don't forgo a port a cath if you need one but be sure to discuss clot concerns with your health care providers and that they will monitor you properly and what the plan is if you develop signs of a clot. My grandfather didn't have an instantaneous massive stroke. There was a 24 hour window of opportunity in which he could have been saved and the hospital completely failed to realize he was having a stroke when they discharged him and he couldn't walk. They have since educated their staff on what the signs of a stroke are and have posters on it in the ER.

I wasnt put to sleep for my port either.

elisa, I've not heard of anyone being anesthetized for a port cath. Usually they give some light IV sedation. Many people will fall asleep after this medication, but they have not been "put to sleep". The only reason to put the tube in would be if they believed they might need an airway. In which case, you WOULD be anesthetized (put to sleep.)

My port insertion was very easy, after they gave me some sedation. I was aware of what was happening, but I didn't care. Just drifted along until it was over.

Couple of hours from admission to leaving. No intubation, no catheter. I had both for the BMX.