@Brenda5 My husband is coming with me - he's my advocate and gallantly turns into the serial nuisance when no-one is listening to me.
@Joannie They did give me the emla patch - I'm debating whether to use it because I'm actually scared of masking any pain. Last time, although I was in pain, the x-ray showed that the needle was in the right place so the staff were convinced that all was good. Luckily, the pain I was in from the saline and then the steroid going through the tissue was a really good sign for me that something was wrong and my husband pointed out the swelling that was occurring above the port! treatment was stopped before the chemo drugs were administered. A few days later, the port was working for blood and saline (but I used a cannula for chemo as the skin around the port was so bruised and tender) so it looks like it was a needling problem but I'm still very nervous.