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CathyMac's avatar
CathyMac
Member
7 years ago

Next steps.

Last night I had an absolute meltdown and cried uncontrollably for an hour but I have woken today with a slightly clearer head and am trying to imagine what it's going to be like in the coming months and trying to get our lives as organised as possible.
First of all I need the surgery site from single right side mastectomy to heal completely after getting 2 infections on the suture line. The rush is on before chemo starts. I'm back to seeing the community nurses daily as one of the infections is well and truly on the mend but the other under my arm, where I assume the nodes have been taken has no infection but it is now a great gaping hole.
I have to have heart tests to make sure my heart will withstand the chemo as I have a mitral valve prolapse.
Then they want to have a port inserted, I've heard such varied stories on these and I'm really unsure of this. Is it doable with the veins in just one arm? For 14 rounds over 18 weeks? 
I see the oncologist again in 2 weeks to make sure the surgery site is good for chemo, go over heart tests and get a start date which he wants to do asap after consult as I will be 6 weeks post surgery.
I believe it will be 4 rounds x fortnightly of doxorubicin the. 10 x weekly of pacilitaxel and something else I can't remember the name of. Has anyone had this mix?. He told the first 4 rounds will be the toughest. 
Thanks for listening.
Big love❤️
  • @CathyMac. I was offered a port. I was going to have one but decided against it because I figure I have enough things inside me with my implants. I also have enough scars.
    I also couldn't contemplate another overnight stay in hospital.
    I am very pleased with my decision. 
    I still have blood tests but I was told that blood would not be taken from the port. 

  • For what it's worth, I had TC which was four rounds and so was not offered a port. However between that, the blood tests, three operations and two trips to the ED, my veins are now "difficult", as the last nurse I encountered said.
  • Hi @CathyMac I too was undecided about a port when it was suggested.  There is a thread from January "To port or not to port" that I started with this question and got back a lot of responses that helped me decide.  I went with the port, and although I had issues at the first appointment, I was very glad to have it in the end as it saved my veins and meant that each visit was so much easier.
    https://onlinenetwork.bcna.org.au/discussion/17972/to-port-or-not-to-port ;
  • 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.