HI!
At my last treatment they showed me a sample of my "double lumen medi port" I thought you might like to see what has been implanted under my skin.
The place where the line or "hose" as i like to call it joins into the port is just below my collarbone and the line goes partway up my neck and follows the vein down toward my heart.
the viens are much larger there and can have the medication at a stronger amount without needing to be diluted. where as in my arm, the veins are smaller and even with dilution, I was experiencing vein trauma. I wont have this now.
The port needs to be flushed once a month. and since i am getting treatment every two weeks they will flush one side of the port during one treatment and the other side at the next treatment. there is only one line though, so that will be flushed twice a month once with each treatment.
I bet you are all thinking wow cant you feel that? well yea the first few days home it felt like i had something in a shirt pocket that could fall out if i bent over. of course that wouldn't happen but its as close as I can describe it. it was sore for a few days. and it would swell in the evenings but i treated it with a cool jell pack and that helped. and if i move my neck just right i can feel the line in my neck. it doesn't hurt much now, it is just there. and if you feel the spot in my skin you can feel the round jelly like ports. its kinda neat but kinda creepy.
On a more personal note:
it carried a bit of mental baggage for me, it made me realize every second of every day that "yes you have cancer" I could not put that thought out of my mind for even a second. I have always been a guilt hound... thats someone that if we have a chance to take all of the blame we will. Well of course "you have cancer" comes with a huge guilt pile. not one that is true at least not in this instance. if this had been lung cancer from the YEARS of smoking sure but this they dont know where it comes from and i certainly didnt ask for it. so this last week was a kind of downer. but i am on the uphill now. feeling better about my port, and about the situation. I am more than halfway though my treatment. so i dont have long now.
I am certain this wont be the last time i have to deal with this stuff. just thought i would put that out there for anyone that things i am allways so positive. I just dont share all the garbage with everyone. there are maybe two or three that get it on a regular basis. and right now i am really glad #1 was on vacation... this would have been a tough week for her had she been home. I did OK without her here... Miss her though.
PS... If you happen on this blog post due to a search, make certain you see this post as well... they kinda go hand in hand....
6 comments:
Thanks Krista, I'm having a hard time. I just finished bi-lateral skin sparring mastectomy with immediate reconstruction on May 9th, 2011 and now on June 20th, 2011 I'm due to start 17 rounds of chemo cocktail plus 6 rounds of some other IV stuff... pretty much a year the way I see it, anyways next week I'm supposed to get the double lumen mediport surgically inserted and it's freaking me out! I just started getting used to my new chest and now I have to go to some new Dr. I don't know(happens to be male :-( and get my chest cut into again and as you know have someone tampering with my veins and breasts etc hoping i don't get an infection and that they are competent!
I can understand your apprehension. I still think that my mediport was THE BEST THING as far as my treatment was concerned! My husband was really freaked out by it. I wills ay that. it bothered him to know there was soemthing that "wasnt me" under my skin. it was freaky at first but after my first few treatments it was SO wonderful. I still have trouble with the veins in my arms. (giving blood for tests and such) had i STARTED off with a mediport, this would not be the case.
Lissa, I wish you well with your treatments. feel free to email me direct through my profile.
I was actually excited before the insertion of my medi-port. I had wrongly thought it would be like a USB port (think RoboCop and the Borg on Star Trek). Needless to say I was very disappointed after the procedure. It was not a port I liked at all. And I did not feel robotic, which was what I wanted. To make things worse, I googled the surgical procedure and freaked out that the end of the tubing may pop out of my vein somehow. It's been 6 years now, with that awkward port below my collarbone. And I still want that USB port version :)
Suzy, I can completely understand how you are freaked out by it! I was freaked out by mine too. but i got used to it. My husband however never really did. I was lucky my port quit functioning shortly after my chemo was done (it never drew back like it was supposed to, an inexperienced mamo technician got it caught during a mammogram) and i had it removed once i got the "all clear"from my Doc.
Maybe you are looking at this wrong... life before my port was pure hell i am still dealing with the damage that the chemo induced burns in my veins of my arms and hands. thing of this as the first step to "robocop" ! its a plastic piece of technology that helps with what you need it for! instead of resisting it embrace it for the wonders that it can give!
Hi Krista, I totally agree that that medi-port is a Godsend. No more 3-inch patches of bruises in my arm from the chemo infusions! And I still remember the nurses always looking for a "fresh" vein for the IV, and I used to sigh thinking that I was going to be poked repeatedly till they found a workable vein :) When I had to have chemo infusions every Friday for 11 months, I quickly had a new respect for that medi-port. To my surprise there was no bruising, week after week. Just a simple dot where the needle went in. Since I have a double port, there will always be two dots (lol). Yes I am used to it by now. I am curious, however, why more cancer patients do not have this port "installed" :)
I had to fight for mine to be put in. i have NO CLUE why a doctor will drag his feet on the installation. of a mediport but i know mine did and i have heard from others that they did as well.
I think that may are freaked out by it like my husband was. I wish i had mine put in sooner. if i ever have to do it again (God forbid) I WILL have it BY the second infusion
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