If another port is ever needed ...

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NotVeryBrave
NotVeryBrave Member Posts: 1,287
edited January 2019 in Surgery - Before, During, and After

I still have my port from chemo. It's now been a year since my last infusion and my MO started asking me about having it removed before that. I kept it mostly as an "insurance policy" kind of thing - like if I had it then maybe I wouldn't need it.

It has a Groshong catheter and only has to be flushed every 90 days. It doesn't really ever bother me. I know that there are risks with keeping it, but my question is - how hard is it to replace it if needed?

I've kept it while I've waited to have life settled down. I've had a number of things that have needed to be addressed or diagnosed and I've been fearful that something was going to end up being cancer. As time goes on - I realize that it's mostly just fear.

Has anyone on here completed treatment and had their port removed only to need to have it replaced? How hard was that? Did they use the same place?

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  • MCBaker
    MCBaker Member Posts: 1,555
    edited January 2019

    I see you had three nodes removed. I had five removed, which moves me into LE risk. I intend on keeping mine, because in a medical crisis, it is easier for them to get access. Especially since my right arm is off limits now.

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  • WC3
    WC3 Member Posts: 1,540
    edited January 2019

    I'm on my third port as the incision for the first and second didn't heal properly and the port became exposed. Each procedure was more or less the same except the second and third times were longer on account of the back to back removal and implantation and I didn't fall asleep the third time like I did the second time.

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  • twiggyOR
    twiggyOR Member Posts: 270
    edited January 2019

    I just had another port put in on Friday due to new dx. The process was exactly the same as the first time. They even used the same incision site so there will only be one scar.

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  • NotVeryBrave
    NotVeryBrave Member Posts: 1,287
    edited January 2019

    Thanks for the responses. My BS has offered to remove it, either in the office (no thanks) or during a possible lumpectomy for an area that is palpable but doesn't show on imaging. Ugh - decisions, decisions.

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  • Spookiesmom
    Spookiesmom Member Posts: 9,568
    edited January 2019

    I still have mine after 7 years. Nobody has hassled me to get it out. 11 nodes out, I have LE in that arm.

    Seems I’ve read here that if you do need another it can’t go back where it was, and can’t go on the rads side. So it stays put. Would be a good ? for your dr.

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  • BellasMomToo
    BellasMomToo Member Posts: 305
    edited January 2019

    Notverybrave: My BS removed my port in her office. Since I had my port for over a year (I had Herceptin), it took a little tugging to get the port out cause tissue grew around it. It wasn't a big deal and I didn't have any discomfort.

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