port malfunction

I have a port and it should come out when I am done end of august from my lips to his ears and when I went for my first ta ta juice the nurse who is nice as can be came at me with a can of stuff its cold like liquid nitrogen, I work at a nuclear reactor in the office so I recognize it but its scary now I am not a baby went through surgery like a pro, etc had a 10 pound baby 30 years ago but this I have had nightmares about is there anyone out there with a port and cant they put the stuff on a cotton swab?????Please help I have # 2 at 9:30 tomorrow Thursday the 5th ...my ex mother-laws birthday who would of thought at young 56 I have ta ta juice and she is 78 and going strong scoring points to the wrong place ....

Deb,

I had problems with my first port never giving blood return--it was quite a PITA because it takes at least 3 sticks in various places in my one good arm to even get a drop of blood.

My second port (now over a year old) seemed to be acting up several months ago. The first time, the doctor had the nurse use CATH-FLO (port dran-o). It took over an hour, but we finally got blood return.

Here's what I discovered, though: Every time a particular nurse accessed my port, there was a problem with blood return. EVERY TIME. I have since discovered that ports have to be accessed pretty much dead-center in order to work properly. Evidently, this particular nurse was not hitting the sweet spot. Fast forward to a couple of months ago: same nurse seems to have be re-trained (her approach was entirely different than in previous months)--I have not had a problem with blood return since then.

LuannH said something about short needles on her thread; if your port is very deep (or at least deeper than average), you will need a longer needle to ensure that they are hitting it in the right spot.

Ports acting up truly sucks. I hope your problem is as simple as them not hitting the bullseye!

(((HUGS)))
Diane

when they installed my port they left the tubing to long and it enters my atrium which  set off an unending  stream of problems starting several e.r. visits with palpitations and a heart rate in the 230's and ending with a blood clot in my heart which has me on coumadin,,

p.s.  they cant use the port and i have bad veins so i look like a pin cushion now...

Deb, I had problems with my port from day one. They could not draw blood and when I was getting treatment if I turned my head to the left the flow would stop.  They sent me for a teat of the port and the hospital said everything was fine and they were able to draw blood.  Went back to the chemo lab and they could not draw blood.  Then I started to feel like I was leaking water in my chest.  Call my dr he told me to call my onc my onc told me to go to ER.  I called my surgeon she had me come in took an x-ray said my port was leaking and took the port out in her office.  It felt sooo good to have that out of me I finished the rest of my herceptin in the arm which was hard because I have no veins left.  Good luck but please get it checked.

Deb

Deb - after my infusions, my port is routinely flushed with Heparin (the blood-thinner solution you were talking about). Of course, they only used my port once (for the 2nd infusion) - this past Wednesday I had my fourth through the vein in my arm because my port incision is still not healed. It was red and infected looking so they put me on Levaquin for 10 days. But it was still red and open - so they wouldn't use it. Sigh......oh and then my PS cleaned out the port incision and pulled out a gross-looking dark-brown thread and said, "They LEFT something in there! No wonder you didn't heal!" Certainly doesn't give me confidence in the radiologist who inserted my port!

Angie - I'm on Herceptin and Navelbine - my oncologist wanted me to get the port because the Navelbine can burn  your veins over time, but they never said there is any problem with Herceptin and veins. I don't know about Taxol though - I hope someone else here will be able to answer your question.

Angie, please remember that you are reading a thread that's dedicated to problems about ports, so you are going to read about women that have problems. But look at the numbers. There are less than a dozen posts here. Now compare that to the number of people who actively post that have ports but no problems (me for one). The people posting here are comparing their problems and suggesting possible work-arounds or solutions. But notice...they are still trying to use their ports.

Ports do save your veins if you will be getting infusions over a long period of time. Doesn't matter what the meds are...constantly pricking you in one arm vein will take it's toll. 

Sally,

That sounds unusual. Please be sure to tell your doctor about it. When my port is functioning properly, I honestly cannot feel a thing. My first port--which was always a problem and finally ruptured--allowed me to feel the fluids going in. I thought that was NORMAL until I got my new port. It would seem that my first port was "leaky" from the start. I have never had the sensation of being able to feel the catheter (tube) filling up. Usually, a port is flushed and then "topped off" with heparin that should stay in the catheter, preventing back-flow.

Diane 

I would always recommend a port if you're going through chemo. Some of these drugs are very caustic to the veins and even if you have good veins now, the chemo can really mess them up. At my infusion center I frequently witness how patients without ports have to be stuck several times to find access and are also complaining of discmfort from the drugs infusing.

I have not had problems with blood return but I still have to go to a external lab for my bloodwork (insurance reasons) and they are not licensed to access my port so I still get a stick in the arm .

I did have a problem w. bloodclots in that arm (swelling, tightness, discoloration). I was on Lovenox and am still on Coumadin. I'm told that some doctors put pts. on a low dose of Coumadin prophylacticly to prevent problems.