Porto cath - yeh or ney!!!

Hi Deb,

I have a portacath and its great. I had 6 lots of chemo and herceptin for one year so I went for the Port. The oncology nurses think its marvelous too as they dont have to go hunting for good veins and they can also take bloods from it as well. Picc lines you need to take more care with showering and swimming etc.  I have grown very fond of my port and have even given it a name.

Good luck with what ever you choose

Take Care Chrissy D :) xoxox

Well I am pleased to hear the skin eruptions aren't permanent!!

Thats a relief!!

Thanks again for the input re portocath - sounds like you are pretty chilled about ours!

I am having cyclophosomide and taxotare - only 1 down but so far all managable.

The challenge for me now is the low white cell count phase - I am only a week along nad both my husband and his dad have started coughing and spluttering with colds.

Hard to keep away from people with bugs when they are LIVING with you!!

I have slept in my daughters room - she thought that was great - only because my husband is doing a big exam today on top of everything. But tonight I shall be in the bed and he will be bunking down on the mattress somewhere!!

Grandpa has been convined to the bedroom to keep his bugs to himself!!

I have had all the windows open and fans on to clear the air - chilly but I want the clean air hehe.

I have had a runny nose since just after chemo - but am not feeling unwell or a temperature so will just have to watch it carefully - the timing couldnt be worse.

Oh well -  just keep swimming , just keep swimming !!!

Hope you have a boost of energy with all that fresh blood pumping in your veins.

Debsxxxx

Oh yeah - I broke out horribly after my first chemo - like you body is flushing everything.  I have had great skin since apart from some dryness. It's a great look isn't it?

I had the transfusion for anaemia.  I had no idea until seeing my onc before chemo on Tuesday.  I have been pretty shagged but thought I was starting to feel a little better - guess I have a new sense of normal at the moment. I don't usually have any trouble with my iron level so we can blame the chemo - this happened after #4 but I believe Taxotere is harder on you that way.  My liver function is also a bit down but was better than last time so they just keep an eye on it. 

Sounds like Sherree and Leonie had some trouble with their port insertions.  Mine was a breeze - I was awake, in the radiation department chatting the the radiologist as it did it (somewhat dopily due to the light anaesthetic) about holidays in Fiji!  I can't feel mine much anymore (without touching it) and it hides beneath by bra - I don't even have much of a buldge.  My surgeon got me to ask them to do a vertical incision and my scar is quite small.  I used an Emla patch on Tuesday for them to put the gripper in  - more for the nurses than for me - I don't find it very painful to have the gripper inseerted. They just left it in overnight so that I could come back for blood yesterday without needing a reinsertion.  

I'm OK - this chemo is a bit harder - I am very tired and cranky - kids are off to school now so I will probably head back to bed soon and the Taxotere is yet to hit!  Yippee - "keep looking at the light Amanda" - only one more!

Hope you are still doing well - think of the acne as a chemical peel from the inside and you will be a new woman after the next chemo! :)

Amandaxx

I too had heaps of trouble with the insertion of my portacath - not known to me at the time but I wore the scars for a while.  Lots of bruising that took 8 weeks to go away (I am a bleeder so that added to it).  My surgeon saw me today and said that it all looked pretty good _ I also had a haemotoma from it.  He also said that he wants to leave it in for at 2 years from now.  I am okay with that as I don't want any more surgery at the moment either.  I think I have got used to it to a point (let's wait and see in Summer when it is exposed more though).  Anyway I originally got it in because my veins are not very good and it is extremely difficult and stressful to put canulas in me.  All in all I am okay with it. XLeonie   PS It cost me heaps of $$$$$$$ so I should get my money's worth out of it.

For me, I hate my portacaff.... but... I think I am traumatised from the ordeal I went through to get it in.  At the same surgery I had a right mastectomy and the whole surgery was meant to take 2.5hrs and my surgery was 5 hours long.  They were trying to put in above my left GOOD breast but the tubing would not thread in my vein in my neck, so they ended up threading it in the right jugular vein in my neck and then went across to put it in the left of my chest as originally planned...  So like I said I was traumatised by the scars and ordeal to get the thing in.

Since it has been in, it sticks out of my chest, and everyone asks what it is... I also find it uncomfortable at times, especially to sleep as I sleep on that side.  And I hate them stabbing it when I have a chemo infusion! 

The whole port thing has increased my anxiety levels...

I have actually not found chemo to be as bad as I first thought, but I still reflect on living with this foreign body inside of me... I can't wait till the day it comes out!

It may be easier for the nurses... definitely.....no doubt about it, but I have to live with this thing, so the day I get it out I will be a happy lady.

This is just my experience.. lol

Hi Amanda

Thanks for replying to my question.

Good to hear all has gone well with yours - I guess I just dont fancy another procedure at the moment!

I have only had one chemo so far so maybe I will see how the next one goes veins wise - they have put the referral through to surgery but I am in the public system so it will tick along slowly in any case!

Hope all goes well with your transfusion - did you become anaemic due to chemo Amanda?

I am a bit prone to that so will see how I go - did you have any trouble with your skin - I have started to break out on my face this week. Joy of joys - just to add to the fun. I havent really had trouble with pimples since I was a teenager really - the odd one here or there - but feels like this is going to be an eruption - eek.

Bald, bloated and pimply - oh yeh baby !!!!

Anyway - hope all went well with you today.

Thanks again for your reply.

Debs xx

I have a portacath but that's because they had trouble getting a vein on the first go at chemo.  I have subsequently found getting blood from my elbow crease difficult too (no problems before chemo).  I had a portacath put in and it is a breeze for me but not everyone likes it.  I get my blood taken from it, chemo put through it and tomorrow I will have a blood transfusion through it.  It doesn't hurt (it is painful for about a week after the surgery) and the way mine has been done you can't see it when I have a bra on.  I am having herceptin too so I think it was worth my while. 

But for you it sounds like it has been going fine and the Herceptin won't damage your veins so why not keep going with what is working - no need for extra surgery if there is no real upside?

Good luck with your decision.

Amanda xx