Port placement

Hi Love83,

I had my port placed in summer of 2017, and it's become my very best friend. You will find it's so much better than arm sticks or pic lines. And yes, the best part is you can ask your Dr for Emla cream. You put it on about 45 mins before they are going to access it, and won't feel a thing!

It does seem kind of strange at first, but by the first month or so I didn't even notice it til it was being accessed. Mine is on the right side, so occasionally the seatbelt can irritate if I'm the passenger in the car.

Good luck with the placement, and the upcoming treatments. Hoping your recent biopsy shows nothing new.

Vickki

Port was uncomfortable for a few days, but not painful. Just kind of a tight feeling for me, and I was constantly "aware" of it til I got used to it.

I also had A/C + T. Dose dense (every other week). The AC is harder on the stomach. I had continual nausea (no vomiting) days 2 thru 5 after infusion. The good thing is, there are lots of options with meds, so please let your Oncologist know so they can get it under control. I had to eat small but often (about every 2 hours). That seemed to quell the nausea for a while. Please know ..that is just my experience. Others have reported no stomach issues. Drink plenty of water or Gatorade/Powerade to flush it out and stay hydrated. You will also be given premeds before infusion. Usually antacid, steroid, nausea...etc. These work really well to get through the first couple days, and you usually feel pretty good and active from the steroid. By week two, you're starting to feel pretty decent . Watch for mouth sores, and your nose may become "crusty". I used magic mouthwash for the sores (need script from Onco), and even dipped a qtip in it and put it on nose sores. Worked great!

Taxol is great in that nausea is usually not an issue. It does however create aches and pains in the back, limbs and joints. Sometimes quite severe. You will probably be told to take Claritin the day after T infusion, and to take it for about 5 days or so. It really helps with the joint pain. Staying active, like walking or riding a bike helps better than laying around. A lot of us do yoga to stay limber and abate the pain. Again .. hydrate! Also on Taxol, I lost my sense of taste on the evening of day 2, and it didn't come back til about day 4 or 5. I found drinking with a straw to the back of my mouth (bypassing taste buds) was better during that time. Watch for neuropathy. Tell your Onco if you start feeling tingling, burning or numbness in feet or hands. If it gets too bad, they usually lower or stop the doses to keep it from becoming permanent.

Your hair will start to come out sometime between days 7 and 14. Most choose to shave it off at that point, as it gets pretty messy in the shower/ on pillowcases. This is a personal choice. My lashes and brows did not come out until treatment ended, but started coming in immediately. I was only without them about 3 weeks.

Sleep seems to be a problem as well. The combination of steroids and innate stress can keep us up for hours. You may be given Lorazapam (Ativan) for this. It also helps w nausea.

This is weird, but I'll put it out there. A lot of us found that if we were "cleaned out" the day of any chemo, we felt better afterward. Chemo messed with the digestive tract, so starting from 'scratch" helped.

Please know, this advice is based on how it went for me. Everyone's experience is different. The key is always to communicate any symptoms to your care team so they can provide relief.

Good luck to you. Take a deep breath, and know it's generally worse in your imagination than what it turns out to be. There's always someone on here to answer questions or help you through a rough moment. Also, feel free to PM if I can help.

Vickki

I had my port placed under sedation in the OR at a hospital with a general surgeon. It didn't take very long to do, but apparently I needed more medication than they were planning so it took a while before I was released. I was kind of groggy that evening and a little sore. The surgeon gave me a prescription for Tylenol #3 and I took it occasionally for the first two days.

My incision was only one line, about an inch or so long and covered with steristrips, gauze, and a transparent dressing. I had to leave the dressing on for two days. I think that added to any discomfort I felt. It was much better once that was off!

It takes a while to get comfortable with it. Mine sticks out quite a bit, but you can't really see the catheter part. My surgeon marked my chest while I was wearing a bra so the bra never rubbed on it. I was lucky to get a Bard Power Port with a Groshong catheter so it only has to be flushed every 90 days and needs no Heparin.

The infusion nurses would use the freezing spray before accessing it. That usually works really well. One time it didn't - not sure if it was the nurse or what. After that, I requested Emla cream and would put a big glob of it on about an hour before my appt. I've since had it flushed once with no numbing anything and it wasn't horrible.

Good luck tomorrow. I'd advise checking out a thread for starting chemo in November or December for others in the same place.

My port placement is scheduled for December 19th. They said I should be able to return to 'normal' actinities the next day. Did everyone else find that to be true?

MLAnne I've had ports placed twice and truly it was a breeze. In the grand scheme of things, it was cake really. I don't recall being unable to do things afterwards. Maybe mild soreness for a bit.

Having said that, I hated having the port. It didn't hurt but I was always aware of it being there. But, it served an important purpose during treatment. Good luck!