Surgery today

dn220

Well I had my VAD put in today and man is it sore. Did anyone else get "knots" on each side of the neck when the port is in the right chest. I think its weird having them in my neck. Chemo starts Tuesday so I hope it feels better by then. I guess I'm still being wimpy cuz it sure is sore.lol
Deb

hopefulone

Deb, hubby's was sore for a few days. You'll be feeling better soon. If not, have it checked out! Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers for tuesday.

God BLess,
Diane

katienavs

Hi Deb,
I became very sore in my neck and upper back because I was unable to relax with the port for the first couple of weeks. I was so tense and it felt so foreign. I went and got a professional massage and my whole upper back was one gigantic knot. Maybe you can try to concentrate on relaxing (I dont think I was aware of how tense I was) and treat yourself to a massage!
Katie

Faith4Cure

You are not a wimp! My husband did so well with much of the treatments---but he was very sore after his port was put in. It was much worse than what he had expected it to be. It got much better in a few days and as time went on he almost forgot it was there. It sure makes getting chemo easier. Have faith and good luck with your first treatments.

Faith

pamness

When I had my port put it there was an incision in my right chest and a small one in my neck. My oncologist had warned me that the first day or two could be pretty painful. The first 24 hours it was really sore - after that it was a little sore - but not painful for another day. After a few days it only bugged me when I felt it - I didn't like the little bulge of the port, but it made everything so easy. I found that advil worked really well because it was more muscle pain than anything else. If it doesn't go away by Monday have it checked out but 24 to 36 hours made a world of difference for me.
Good luck,
Pam

dn220

Thank you all for the info. I think that is what the problem is, I really didn't expect it to be this painful. They put some kind of closure on it besides stitches and said not to get it wet and don't pull it off so it is bugging the stew out of me. Just another of our cancer trials I guess.
Hugs, Deb

pamness

dn220 said:

Thank you all for the info. I think that is what the problem is, I really didn't expect it to be this painful. They put some kind of closure on it besides stitches and said not to get it wet and don't pull it off so it is bugging the stew out of me. Just another of our cancer trials I guess.
Hugs, Deb

Do you have a dressing that is supposed to not get wet for 3 days and then steri strips underneath. The dressing was totally annoying and the steri strips I finally had to start soaking them in the shower and cutting off the edges - finally after 2 weeks - on advice from my chemo nurse I really started working to get them off. When I finally pulled the one off my chest their wasn't even a scab. I swear those things wouldn't have come off for months. If you have a dressing that you get to take off after a few days, you should be much more comfortable. Best of luck.

Pam

kristasplace

Hi Deb! The port was probably the hardest thing for me (until i got the ileostomy), to get used to. Like Katie has mentioned, it's a foreign body inside you, and it really gave me the heebie jeebies for many months. I couldn't touch it, couldn't scratch it (for some reason i have a very itchy port), but the other posters are right, it's a God send for chemo. Without it, most of us would be bitching about how many collapsed veins we have, and how much vascular surgeries suck! I left my steri strips on until they fell off, which was quite a while after the surgery. Like Pam, i didn't even have scabs by then. I don't remember having much pain with it, but then again, i made sure i was pretty high on percocet those few days!

Keep up the good work, you will eventually get used to it. In the long run, you may love your port.

Many hugs,
Krista