Heparin flush for port--maybe not a good idea?

carolenk
carolenk Member Posts: 907 Member
in Uterine/Endometrial Cancer #1
I posted this on the ovarian cancer discussion board and thought this board might be interested in this information:

Information about heparin promoting neoangiogenesis (the growth of new blood vessels) is in the Aug/Sept 2011 issue of the Townsend Letter. The article is all about how WONDERFUL heparin and something called "Pleo-Muc" are for treating burns and even frostbite. Sounds like a miracle cure--relieves pain and reduces scarring, too. Smoke inhalation was treated with nebulized heparin. Really interesting article written by Michael Gerber, MD (isn't he the guy who wrote the book, Vibrational Medicine?).

When I worked in a chelation clinic (many years ago), heparin was added to the "recipe" along with EDTA and I never knew why. Now I am thinking that the heparin was there to increase collateral circulation--as everyone taking the EDTA chelation was there because of heart disease or poor circulation.

I did have trouble with my port starting to clog up but the cath flo took care of that easily. I ONLY use saline for flushes--sometimes 20ml at a time. But no heparin for me.

I think the practice of using heparin flushes for cancer patients should be the subject of clinical research. I have a feeling that flushing the port with heparin may not make a very big difference for people in remission.

On the other hand, if someone is dealing with an aggressive active cancer, they are probably better off NOT using heparin to flush their port. Who knows? I would think that you would want to avoid something that promotes the growth of new blood vessels. Heparin is "anti-Avastin" therapy...maybe it would explain the cases where Avastin fails to acheive good results in some women.

I am only speculating as to the undesired effects of heparin flushes as it is a very small amount of heparin in the flush. Nevertheless, I've seen homeopathic doses (highly diluted substances) bring amazing results.

Carolen

Comments

  • Kaleena
    Kaleena Member Posts: 2,088 Member
    #2
    Hi Carolen:
    thanks for
    Hi Carolen:

    thanks for posting this topic. I had my port in for 5 1/2 years. I believe at first they used heparin, but after that, they only used saline. I went every month. I rather they used the saline because I wasn't sure about the heparin.

    But January of this year, several of my local hospitals refused to flush my port because my PCP wasn't associated with their hospital or my gyn/onc was in another state. So for six months I went without getting my port flush because I couldn't have it removed at the gyn/onc because my insurance company wouldn't pay for it or I would pay an enourmous amount because they were considered out-of-network (Don't change insurance!).

    I was finally able to have my port removed last month.

    Sorry for getting off the topic. Anyway, I found that if I went every 4 to 5 weeks for the flush, I really didn't have too much trouble getting it flushed.

    Thanks again for posting. My best to you!

    Kathy

Discussion Boards