results after mastectomy & chemo plan

One day at a time Kitty. It's shitty trite advice, but short of going for 'How do you eat an elephant?' there is nothing better I can offer you. Do it, then it's done. Good luck. Marg xxx

thank you

Good luck for chemo tomorrow. I hope all goes well and you have minimal side  effects.

Port was done on Thursday, that night i was in a LOT of pain, i'd asked about pain relief and was told just panadol & an ice pack... which was no where near enough for the pain in my neck. I tool a Targin that i had left over from before that night & another in the morning, but i was still in an awful lot of pain. 

The chemo co-ordinator called me the next day to see how I was going, she was not impressed that they'd not given me anything for pain, especially as i'd asked about it. She said to yes, ask the GP when i went for a dressing change - which I did. Not much pain at all now & i am pleased had it done, even with the pain as it is going to help me a lot in the long run - it took them 3 goes to get a vein for the cannula for the procedure as it was. 

Chemo is starting tomorrow. I have a friend coming with me who is going to sit with me whilst they do the infusion to keep me company. I also have a few Emla patches ready with instructions to put one on an hour before my appointment. 

The pigtail drain also came out on Thursday afternoon after the port was in, it seems it had become blocked & wasn;t doing it's job anyway the bc nurse said - so i'm just gonna have to go in every so often to have it drained in RBWH, i am also back on AB's to prevent any infections forming. Taking a probiotic 2 x a day to try & prevent the horrid side effects. 

No boyfriend this weekend again as he has a cold & didn't want to get me sick, so stayed away - he was here on Wednesday night to take me to hospital, then again on Thursday night to stay with me & make sure I was okay - that night he just gently held me. I really am so lucky to have found him. 

I think i will start with some Metamucil tonight & in the morning to try & counteract the constipation. 


Thank you everyone for your help & suggestions, I will let you know how i go. 

the port was suggested to me & i'm the one that had been pushing for it. It was meant to be done last Friday under a twilight sedation. 
My daughter had a PICC line when she was young as her veins kept occluding. I know the PICC line is not as safe as the port - which is why i was pushing the port - I just don't want my veins getting screwed up.
I can very much be heard when I want and feel that I need to be. The problem seems to be that different departments handle different things.
What I was advised to do is to ask for an emla patch & put it on the site of the port a little while ahead of time, so it's not so painful when they put the needle into the port the first time. 
A lot is going to depends on what my Med Oncologist says when I see him on Monday. 

@MKitty68 yes cording is where the vein goes hard and shrinks, I have full movement but the vein is useless now, doesnt bother me at all, looks a bit weird though LOL.

My veins are already a mess from the IV AB's - is cording where the vein goes hard? If so, that's what's happened to mine. The nurse called it tracking. They had to move the cannula site every 24 hours, slow the flow of the IV for the AB's to two hours, dilute it and in the end put ice on it as it was so very painful. In the end I said to use the vein on the back of my forearm. One Dr tried my hand & I was in tears it hurt so bad. 
The hardness of my vein has settled a little, but it's still there & still tender. A nurse in the surgical unit said if they don't get the port in to ask for a picc line. 
One of my gf's has the port, she had inflammatory bc, she said the line is still there, but they removed the rubber top or something. She highly recommended it. 
Im just going one day at a time at the moment, I need to get back into sorting & packing up my house too, so that when I get my tax refund my boyfriend & I can find a new home together. 

A nurse was telling me they have a range of new smaller needles now which are expensive but which oncology seems to get the funding for. They are ideal for crappy veins and since oncology uses different veins to ordinary drips or blood tests you might be fine.

Mkitty68 it is horrible when things do not go to plan.
I know when I started all this treatment, I was immediately stressed if I could not get an appointment straight away or if something was delayed even a few days.
When my chemo was delayed by two days due to low blood counts it was very difficult to deal with.
I hope you get your portacath soon, I got mine a week before chemo started, it was still sore to access after the operation but much better than trying to get veins, which I dread.
It has been used many times, obviously for chemo but also while in hospital each time.
It took a while for me to be happy with it, and for it to settle down but now I almost forget it is there. Even if you have your first chemo without it, hopefully you can have it in for the second lot.

I hope things run more to plan for you now, I know for me, knowing exactly what will happen and when keeps stress to a minimum. Jennie