CHEST PORT- HELP!

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nubis
nubis Member Posts: 98
edited March 2014 in Lung Cancer #1
Rafael is scheduled for this thursday to have his chest port. He was fine before but now is harder to find a vein. So we decided to have a chest port. But in this moment he is very weak because he has a lot of pain and having seizures very often. Is a good idea to get the chest port? I mean we saw the doctor last week so he knows how is Rafael. I'm going to call the doctor tomorrow morning to ask, but I will like to know any recommendation... Thank you,

Nubis

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  • hartmann
    hartmann Member Posts: 26
    #2
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    Chest Port
    Hi
    I had a port placed prior to starting chemo and it has been great. It sure beats being poked with needles all the time. They can use it to draw blood for lab work as well as to give medications. It takes a while to heal but it is worth it. Now I hardly notice mine. Hope this helps.
    Penny
  • natmat
    natmat Member Posts: 18
    #3
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    good idea
    I too had my port put in prior to treatment. It was the best thing I did, in my opinion. All my bloodwork is drawn from there, all my treatments are done through it. And it really is so much less painful. If you get the right nurse, you won't even feel the prick. And the best part, you only get one prick per visit and they can draw or feed as much as they have to for that day.
    The only thing I will say is to make sure the after each removal they clean it with heperine (not sure I spelled that right). But it helps to keep infection away from the port and you certainly don't need that on top of everything else going on. Mine was cleaned after every treatment, but we had to remind the nurses when I was in the ER, so not everyone does it out of habit.

    Good luck
    natmat

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