Went for my next to last chemo today but........

coloCan
coloCan Member Posts: 1,944 Member
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
@#$^&*@&** Picc (second one, this one inserted 2/1)wouldn't allow nurse to draw blood tho stuff could be injected but when bandage was removed for her to take a closer look,she noticed that the suture holding it in place had snapped so looks like I now have second defective picc (as well as a defective port still hanging out in chest) Had to stay at chemo room til head nurse looked at me, then my onc's research nurse and finally onc herself and it was decided they'd speak with hospital radiology intervention department.

While I'm waiting, lying in the lounge chair we use for chemo, I feel something warm moving across my belly....Hmmm, what the &&*& is that now!!!! So I lift up my T-shirt and look at my belly and lo and behold there's this hugh lump of s--- that was so big it forced its way out of the side at the top of my bag and it was still moving across my stomach. Up til now my girlgriend had been changing me--she had stayed home cos she didn't feel good today. So.....I retrieved a new bag from my tote bag, snapped the outer to the inner piece, attached the tail clip, asked my nurse to watch how I do it and we went into the bathroom together and I actually changed my colostomy bag for my very first time.......

Half hour later I was told to go home and when they know from hosp what next they;ll call me...So now Friday morn its back to radiology unit at hosp to xray how tubing from picc is inside me, if it can still be used or do i need a third picc for my final two chemos. I want to finish this ASAP as I'm already two months behind due to the earlier propblems with the "Big O" as I will now refer to oxaliplatin....

Minor stuff compared to whats happening to others on board but it pisses me off cos I really want to finish this and get scanned for that magic word we all look for, that "N" word that means something good.....Hope all doing better than I.....steve
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Comments

  • khl8
    khl8 Member Posts: 807
    Congrats on changing your
    Congrats on changing your bag! In light of everything, this was a good thing!
  • coloCan
    coloCan Member Posts: 1,944 Member
    khl8 said:

    Congrats on changing your
    Congrats on changing your bag! In light of everything, this was a good thing!

    Yes indeedeee
    Knew I'd have to do it myself sooner or later so there was some good to come out of the delay in Tx. also, when I got home I walked about a mile for lunch special at this Chinese Restaurant my (now deceased) mother used to like to eat at. So I sat in a booth in the back,by myself, crying while I had some good sesame chicken..... Now I'll proably have the runs tomorrow.......
  • Jaylo969
    Jaylo969 Member Posts: 824 Member
    Oh crap!
    No pun intended Steve :) Sounds like you had a sucky day? Sorry about the poop and the bag issue but hey, you learned that you can do it if you have to, huh?

    Just a question...could they possibly give you the last 2 infusions by IV? Don't know your situation, maybe you are like me and all of your veins are blown?

    Wish I was like my Mom in Law. 75 yrs old and did all 12 of her oxi treatments thru IV and chemo didn't cause her to feel bad at all...yada yada.Daughter in Law (me)is a sad sack of... and a wimp...LMAO

    Hang in there Steve. Only 2 more to go.

    -Pat
  • AnneCan
    AnneCan Member Posts: 3,673 Member
    Hi Steve,
    Sorry today was

    Hi Steve,

    Sorry today was not the best for you; but it sounds like 2 good things came out of this: you changed you colostomy bag for the first time - congrats! + you put in a 1 mile walk to the Chinese restaurant - good for you! I hope tomorrow is a better day + I hope they can get you through your last two rounds of chemo easily.
  • maglets
    maglets Member Posts: 2,576 Member
    AnneCan said:

    Hi Steve,
    Sorry today was

    Hi Steve,

    Sorry today was not the best for you; but it sounds like 2 good things came out of this: you changed you colostomy bag for the first time - congrats! + you put in a 1 mile walk to the Chinese restaurant - good for you! I hope tomorrow is a better day + I hope they can get you through your last two rounds of chemo easily.

    steve
    ahhhh stevie...you are breakin my heart here! cryin in your booth...ah

    well you did get a walk hon and you did change the bag ....proud of you!

    for what it's worth....I have done ALL my chemo with IV...no blown veins...even all my oxy...my chemo nurse said fiddlesticks...nothin to er.....and away we went and sure enough no prob

    you might ask to try

    great big warm hugs

    keep going
    mags
  • msccolon
    msccolon Member Posts: 1,917 Member
    OMG!
    I don't know why, but "Hmmm, what the &&*& is that now!!!! So I lift up my T-shirt and look at my belly and lo and behold there's this hugh lump of s--- that was so big it forced its way out of the side at the top of my bag and it was still moving across my stomach" just tickled me! Like that long ago commercial about the guy who received the Scope in the mail box ... absolutely the LAST STRAW! Just another one of those things that "normal" people have no concept about. I don't have an ostomy, but so sympathize with those who do! Then the comment about sitting in that chinese restaurant in the booth alone ... I hope the workers gave you the space you so obviously needed. This stuff just sucks big time!
    mary
  • coloCan
    coloCan Member Posts: 1,944 Member
    msccolon said:

    OMG!
    I don't know why, but "Hmmm, what the &&*& is that now!!!! So I lift up my T-shirt and look at my belly and lo and behold there's this hugh lump of s--- that was so big it forced its way out of the side at the top of my bag and it was still moving across my stomach" just tickled me! Like that long ago commercial about the guy who received the Scope in the mail box ... absolutely the LAST STRAW! Just another one of those things that "normal" people have no concept about. I don't have an ostomy, but so sympathize with those who do! Then the comment about sitting in that chinese restaurant in the booth alone ... I hope the workers gave you the space you so obviously needed. This stuff just sucks big time!
    mary

    Thank you all for responding; thats one good thing about this
    as I was saying, thats one good thing about this site in that a)others know what you're talking about/feeling and b)YOU'RE NOT ALONE IN THIS....I did ask about using my veins as they've come back somewhat (had gone with veins twice with pre-op chemo when port didn;t work)but being that I go home with 46 hour pump was told they won;t let me do that. I cried in the restaurant because it was my first time there since this started and since my mother had died.(Cancer seemed to increase the amount of tear ducts in my eyes)....hope all trying to get out a bit more these days.....steve
  • Jaylo969
    Jaylo969 Member Posts: 824 Member
    coloCan said:

    Thank you all for responding; thats one good thing about this
    as I was saying, thats one good thing about this site in that a)others know what you're talking about/feeling and b)YOU'RE NOT ALONE IN THIS....I did ask about using my veins as they've come back somewhat (had gone with veins twice with pre-op chemo when port didn;t work)but being that I go home with 46 hour pump was told they won;t let me do that. I cried in the restaurant because it was my first time there since this started and since my mother had died.(Cancer seemed to increase the amount of tear ducts in my eyes)....hope all trying to get out a bit more these days.....steve

    Steve
    I forgot to tell you...my highly esteemed MIL was on Oxi and Xeloda. Didn't have to use a pump for that. Just a thought.

    I don't know what your picc looks like but I had to have one in the hospital. About 4-5 separate lines running out of the mainline. They felt like fishing lures..all various colors running out of my neck, clicking and clacking every time I moved my head.

    Just trying to perk you up some; lift your spirits. No, I didn't get out & walk today. I was up all night long with hurting legs from yesterday. Finally took a pain pill @ 2:30 AM and it backfired on me and wired me up.Tomorrow will be a good day...I'm sure.

    -Pat
  • maglets
    maglets Member Posts: 2,576 Member
    Jaylo969 said:

    Steve
    I forgot to tell you...my highly esteemed MIL was on Oxi and Xeloda. Didn't have to use a pump for that. Just a thought.

    I don't know what your picc looks like but I had to have one in the hospital. About 4-5 separate lines running out of the mainline. They felt like fishing lures..all various colors running out of my neck, clicking and clacking every time I moved my head.

    Just trying to perk you up some; lift your spirits. No, I didn't get out & walk today. I was up all night long with hurting legs from yesterday. Finally took a pain pill @ 2:30 AM and it backfired on me and wired me up.Tomorrow will be a good day...I'm sure.

    -Pat

    sorry
    steve i am sorry for mentioning IV...I forgot you have to wear your pump home....so the IV wouldn't work out would it.

    I am glad you had a good cry....hope the chicken doesn't do bad things to your system. Hang on ...you will get finished....and yes we do know what you are talkin about

    _Pat sorry you had a bad night with legs....you should have called me :):) I was up all night fussing about doing CEA's today....ah the crazy nuttiness that is cancer

    hugs again
    mags
  • PhillieG
    PhillieG Member Posts: 4,866 Member
    Steve
    I know it's not funny, but I have to say that the way you told this story had me chuckling.
    "While I'm waiting, lying in the lounge chair we use for chemo, I feel something warm moving across my belly....Hmmm, what the &&*& is that now!!!! So I lift up my T-shirt and look at my belly and lo and behold there's this huge lump of s--- that was so big it forced its way out of the side at the top of my bag and it was still moving across my stomach."
    It reminded me of "The Blob".
    Hang in there Steve
    -phil
  • coloCan
    coloCan Member Posts: 1,944 Member
    Jaylo969 said:

    Steve
    I forgot to tell you...my highly esteemed MIL was on Oxi and Xeloda. Didn't have to use a pump for that. Just a thought.

    I don't know what your picc looks like but I had to have one in the hospital. About 4-5 separate lines running out of the mainline. They felt like fishing lures..all various colors running out of my neck, clicking and clacking every time I moved my head.

    Just trying to perk you up some; lift your spirits. No, I didn't get out & walk today. I was up all night long with hurting legs from yesterday. Finally took a pain pill @ 2:30 AM and it backfired on me and wired me up.Tomorrow will be a good day...I'm sure.

    -Pat

    Pat, sorry you have problems with your legs....
    is that a consequence of treatments? I've started doing squats (some might call them knee-bends) at first doing partial squats as I feared ripping apart where my rear was sewn up and also to start slowly as I hadn't exercised for year 1/2 or so. Knees were bothering me more so than in the past but I attribute that to age now. My picc, unlike yours, has only two lines, red and blue but neither permitted the drawing of blood today.
    You gotta keep trying to do more today than yesterday and if you have a setback, do that much more when better but never, of course, give up-we're stronger than cancer, aren't we?......

    Mags: the chicken probably won't get to me but the sesame seeds might come out in same candition they entered....each separate seed....

    Phil: I'd a filmed it in all its glory in 3D but didn't know how.....

    Steve
  • just4Brooks
    just4Brooks Member Posts: 980 Member
    Better out of you then inside of you!!
    The Poop Blob!!!! I'm with Phill, It is kind of funny in a sick kind of way. Hope you lunch got better as you ate it.

    Brooks
    Molly wants her egg back. LOL
  • Jaylo969
    Jaylo969 Member Posts: 824 Member
    coloCan said:

    Pat, sorry you have problems with your legs....
    is that a consequence of treatments? I've started doing squats (some might call them knee-bends) at first doing partial squats as I feared ripping apart where my rear was sewn up and also to start slowly as I hadn't exercised for year 1/2 or so. Knees were bothering me more so than in the past but I attribute that to age now. My picc, unlike yours, has only two lines, red and blue but neither permitted the drawing of blood today.
    You gotta keep trying to do more today than yesterday and if you have a setback, do that much more when better but never, of course, give up-we're stronger than cancer, aren't we?......

    Mags: the chicken probably won't get to me but the sesame seeds might come out in same candition they entered....each separate seed....

    Phil: I'd a filmed it in all its glory in 3D but didn't know how.....

    Steve

    leg problems
    <<<is that a consequence of treatments>>> Yes and the pain pills don't help very much.
    Plus, I haven't had much exercise since October so the muscles are rebelling.It will all be alright, though.

    I hear you...We ARE strong and we don't give up.

    -Pat
  • greybeard64
    greybeard64 Member Posts: 254
    coloCan said:

    Yes indeedeee
    Knew I'd have to do it myself sooner or later so there was some good to come out of the delay in Tx. also, when I got home I walked about a mile for lunch special at this Chinese Restaurant my (now deceased) mother used to like to eat at. So I sat in a booth in the back,by myself, crying while I had some good sesame chicken..... Now I'll proably have the runs tomorrow.......

    chinese food
    nothing better then chinese food and a good cry. I myself love General Tso chicken and because of that the good cry is inevitable...it generally hits about 6 hours after the meal...while I am seated on the throne, lol. I dont have the bag issues so I can only guess what that is like, but congrats on changing it yourself.
    on a slightly different note...does anyone else pass things so quickly sometimes that you know what it is you ate. I mean the old joke about eating corn is pointless as it shows up the same as when it went in is one thing, but I am talking recognizable food pieces. I can't believe I just asked that....only here, ya know!?
    Hang in there, and yeah you might have the runs, but you could have eaten something not nearly as tasty as sesame chicken and had them anyway. ;)
    greybeard.
  • coloCan
    coloCan Member Posts: 1,944 Member

    chinese food
    nothing better then chinese food and a good cry. I myself love General Tso chicken and because of that the good cry is inevitable...it generally hits about 6 hours after the meal...while I am seated on the throne, lol. I dont have the bag issues so I can only guess what that is like, but congrats on changing it yourself.
    on a slightly different note...does anyone else pass things so quickly sometimes that you know what it is you ate. I mean the old joke about eating corn is pointless as it shows up the same as when it went in is one thing, but I am talking recognizable food pieces. I can't believe I just asked that....only here, ya know!?
    Hang in there, and yeah you might have the runs, but you could have eaten something not nearly as tasty as sesame chicken and had them anyway. ;)
    greybeard.

    The sesame seeds should pass right thru me;
    Gen Tso might be a bit to spicy right now tho you're right about the runs....Judging by your attire,Mr Greybear, I see you like to ride tricycles......steve
  • TxKayaker
    TxKayaker Member Posts: 176
    I went to my onc office last
    I went to my onc office last Thursday for my monthly port flush & it would not draw blood either and when they injected saline my throat started close up and I felt tightness in my chest. After a gathering of all the nurses to observe I was scheduled for a chest x-ray on the following Monday to see how the if there was a problem with the port tubing it seems that the tubing has come back on itself and formed a loop. Bottom line port is useless as it is and am scheduled to have it removed on April 14th. Can anyone relate to this issue my surgeon says this does not happen very often.
  • coloCan
    coloCan Member Posts: 1,944 Member
    TxKayaker said:

    I went to my onc office last
    I went to my onc office last Thursday for my monthly port flush & it would not draw blood either and when they injected saline my throat started close up and I felt tightness in my chest. After a gathering of all the nurses to observe I was scheduled for a chest x-ray on the following Monday to see how the if there was a problem with the port tubing it seems that the tubing has come back on itself and formed a loop. Bottom line port is useless as it is and am scheduled to have it removed on April 14th. Can anyone relate to this issue my surgeon says this does not happen very often.

    Had trouble with port because lead had turned and became blocked
    in side my chest. It only worked 60% of time when needed. Due to other problems I had at the time, everyone neglected to tell me it needed flushing every 4 wweeks as I awaited surgery and then recovery so when needed for postop chemo it was useless. Going to hosp Fri to have second PICC checked out as problem with it yesterday. Hoping to avoid procedure for third picc as only two more chemo infusions to go.....My surgeon had told me of similar problems like mine and other difficulties but no mention of wiring looping up on itself.

    Hope they rectify your situation swiftly and painlessly so you can get back in your kayak and paddle aweigh from this war for awhile....steve
  • Shayenne
    Shayenne Member Posts: 2,342
    coloCan said:

    Had trouble with port because lead had turned and became blocked
    in side my chest. It only worked 60% of time when needed. Due to other problems I had at the time, everyone neglected to tell me it needed flushing every 4 wweeks as I awaited surgery and then recovery so when needed for postop chemo it was useless. Going to hosp Fri to have second PICC checked out as problem with it yesterday. Hoping to avoid procedure for third picc as only two more chemo infusions to go.....My surgeon had told me of similar problems like mine and other difficulties but no mention of wiring looping up on itself.

    Hope they rectify your situation swiftly and painlessly so you can get back in your kayak and paddle aweigh from this war for awhile....steve

    I Like My Port
    Even though it's temperamental. It's a power port, one of the newer ones, and even though it flushes great, I don't get blood back right away, until they use that altaplace or however you spell it, which makes it unblocked in like 15 minutes of keeping it there, it comes right out.

    Steve, I'm sorry you had all that trouble, and had such a laugh at you and you your belly story, how many times that's happened to me in bed!!!! I woke up with crap all over my belly, tearing off my appliace, jumped in the shower at 3 am and then put my appliance back on, I've had lots of bag busting, so it's always good to know to change it yourself, it gives your caregiver that break as well, you can do it, let her teach you, I do it in just a few steps, and it's nothing. I wear a 2 piece device, and even precut all my wafers in the box myself, so I dont have to do it each time I have to change it, and wow, you gave me such a laugh, it brings me to my accidents that will just keep on happening LOL!

    Hugsss!
    ~Donna
  • coloCan
    coloCan Member Posts: 1,944 Member
    Shayenne said:

    I Like My Port
    Even though it's temperamental. It's a power port, one of the newer ones, and even though it flushes great, I don't get blood back right away, until they use that altaplace or however you spell it, which makes it unblocked in like 15 minutes of keeping it there, it comes right out.

    Steve, I'm sorry you had all that trouble, and had such a laugh at you and you your belly story, how many times that's happened to me in bed!!!! I woke up with crap all over my belly, tearing off my appliace, jumped in the shower at 3 am and then put my appliance back on, I've had lots of bag busting, so it's always good to know to change it yourself, it gives your caregiver that break as well, you can do it, let her teach you, I do it in just a few steps, and it's nothing. I wear a 2 piece device, and even precut all my wafers in the box myself, so I dont have to do it each time I have to change it, and wow, you gave me such a laugh, it brings me to my accidents that will just keep on happening LOL!

    Hugsss!
    ~Donna

    As I start to feel a little better and less scared, my old self
    is what you're starting to see with off-the-wall stuff in the midst of serious matters...or just plain off the wall for a laugh.....The fact that I can make fun of being attached to a plastic bag to collect my sheit for posterity (When you dump the bag, how long does it take to biodegrade-with the stuff inside of it?-future archeologists might think we treasured sheit) when at first I couldn't look at stoma without crying.........

    Hope your new line of attack proves victorious, Donna, you've been thru too much already. If I can add some laughter (if it doesn't cause pain when teeheeing), maybe I should tell you all about Stan Laurel's last days........steve

    PS:in short, in response to nurse's inquiry as to how the dying comedian felt, lying there, helpless just about, in his hospital bed, the skinny man who earned his living with the fat man (Oliver Hardy), said he wished he was sking right now in the Swiss Alps.

    The nurse looked at him and said ""How can you think such thoughts lying here Mr Laurel?"

    To which Charlie Chaplin's one time understudy retorted:"WEll, if I were able to ski in the Swiss Alps I wouldn't be lying here in this damn hospital bed!!"

    Story went something like that-don't know where his bio is now-have zazillion books here...
  • Shayenne
    Shayenne Member Posts: 2,342
    coloCan said:

    As I start to feel a little better and less scared, my old self
    is what you're starting to see with off-the-wall stuff in the midst of serious matters...or just plain off the wall for a laugh.....The fact that I can make fun of being attached to a plastic bag to collect my sheit for posterity (When you dump the bag, how long does it take to biodegrade-with the stuff inside of it?-future archeologists might think we treasured sheit) when at first I couldn't look at stoma without crying.........

    Hope your new line of attack proves victorious, Donna, you've been thru too much already. If I can add some laughter (if it doesn't cause pain when teeheeing), maybe I should tell you all about Stan Laurel's last days........steve

    PS:in short, in response to nurse's inquiry as to how the dying comedian felt, lying there, helpless just about, in his hospital bed, the skinny man who earned his living with the fat man (Oliver Hardy), said he wished he was sking right now in the Swiss Alps.

    The nurse looked at him and said ""How can you think such thoughts lying here Mr Laurel?"

    To which Charlie Chaplin's one time understudy retorted:"WEll, if I were able to ski in the Swiss Alps I wouldn't be lying here in this damn hospital bed!!"

    Story went something like that-don't know where his bio is now-have zazillion books here...

    Toooo Funny!!!
    I loved Laurel And Hardy as a kid, Abbott and Costello, Little Rascals, The 3 Stooges, The Bowery Boys, Chaplin, all them, and still watch them when I can! this brings another tee-heeing since my back hurts abit.

    Don't be afraid to look at your stoma, I wipe it read good, with nice hot water on paper towels, just dab the towel over the bathroom sink, and it actually looks like a set of lips just wanting to give you a big ole kiss, It's just poop your wiping, nothing different then what's came out of your butt for years ;)

    Good Luck with a change, and doing it yourself will give you a great sense of accomplishment, say hi to it, give it a name, it's a part of you now, and it's really not that bad, I've gotten quite "attached" to mine, with her accidents and all ;)

    Hugsss!
    ~Donna