Next steps.

Oh @CathyMac, I wish I could step into my computer and give you the biggest, gentlest hug. The wound part of things, I feel are being taken care of and will continue to improve with your community nurses and doctors.  As far as the port goes, I can offer you this. I have a number of other medical conditions, one of which is a blood clotting disorder. As a consequence of this, I've been on Warfarin (a blood thinner) for over twenty years now. I have to have a blood test, on average once every two weeks, more often if the results are playing silly buggers and are too high or too low. So twenty years of very frequent blood tests have left me with one vein in my right arm which I call my least badly behaved, not good, but the best of a bad bunch. For me, having the port was my only option. Was also offered some other line, which has a tube and cap poking out of the skin, covered by a dressing, which would mean no swimming. Also my grandson was only fourteen months old at the time and I was worried that he may grab at it. So I decided on the port. I've never regretted it, and now, two years after finishing chemo, I still have it. I get it flushed and heparin locked (a solution is left in the chamber of the port to stop blocking), every six to eight weeks. No biggie. It has been used multiple times since chemo for IVs , blood tests and even the contrast for scans. I have had other medical issues since the chemo and bilateral mastectomies, including brain surgery last September. The port took a while to get used to, but like a new filling in a tooth, you soon get used to it. I reckon I'll keep mine for as long as they let me. My chemo regime was 4 X AC every three weeks then 12 X Paclitaxol plus Herceptin weekly, then after that final Paclitaxol, the Herceptin continued for a total of eleven months. The first cocktail was, for me, harder than the second, but we all differ in our responses. Ally.