The port

SnapDragon2
SnapDragon2 Member Posts: 720 Member
in Colorectal Cancer #1

I got the port out and it feels so good!

«1

Comments

  • Trubrit
    Trubrit Member Posts: 5,804 Member
    edited March 2021 #2
    Woo hoo!

    That is good news. 

    I hope you heal well, and soon it will be nothing more than a little scar on your chest. 

    Tru

  • abita
    abita Member Posts: 1,152 Member
    #3
    Awesome!

    Awesome!

  • Erica2016
    Erica2016 Member Posts: 47 Member
    #4
    Yay!

    Thats great news! 

  • SnapDragon2
    SnapDragon2 Member Posts: 720 Member
    edited March 2021 #5
    Thanks you all!

    Thanks you all!

    I have to say I am finally getting good sleep now.  The port was so uncomfortable.

  • beaumontdave
    beaumontdave Member Posts: 1,289 Member
    edited March 2021 #6
    Yeah, I left mine in there

    Yeah, I left mine in there longer after it wasn't needed, as my onc said they'd given chemo's best shot with the FOLFOX, after the original colectomy. They took it out at the second liver resection, so I suppose that showed some confidence, but I don't really know, as it seemed like I was the one reminding theem that it was still there..........................................Dave

  • SnapDragon2
    SnapDragon2 Member Posts: 720 Member
    #7
    Mhmm,  I would remind them

    Mhmm,  I would remind them and request it to be flushed and was either ignored or they just thought it wasn't important.  Maybe more money to be made if/when it gets clogged and they can send you down the hall to the other specialist for the unclogging procedure.  Makes me wonder.  Idk.  My surgeon asked me last time it was used for chemo and last it was flushed which kind of took me off guard.  I told him last June and hasn't been flushed since then.  He said "Ya wow, OK, lets get it out."  I was so excited I hugged him :)  

  • SandiaBuddy
    SandiaBuddy Member Posts: 1,381 Member
    #8
    Congrats

    Congratulations!

  • myAZmountain
    myAZmountain Member Posts: 417 Member
    edited March 2021 #9
    Yay!

    I got "DE-Ported"  three times !  So nice when they are removed! Congrats!

     

  • Annabelle41415
    Annabelle41415 Member Posts: 6,742 Member
    #10
    Awesome

    Mine hurt the whole time as I'm on the thinner side and it was protruding from my collar bone.  Bet you feel liberated now.  It's a great feeling.  Congratulations.

    Kim

  • abita
    abita Member Posts: 1,152 Member
    edited March 2021 #11
    myAZmountain said:

    Yay!

    I got "DE-Ported"  three times !  So nice when they are removed! Congrats!

     

    that is kind of sad. I was

    that is kind of sad. I was looking to schedule my port removal, and I was sucker punched with the recurrence. 2 and a half years ago.

  • DanNH
    DanNH Member Posts: 186 Member
    #12
    Excellent!

    I am happy for you and pray that you will never need another! God bless!

  • SnapDragon2
    SnapDragon2 Member Posts: 720 Member
    edited March 2021 #13
    myAZmountain said:

    Yay!

    I got "DE-Ported"  three times !  So nice when they are removed! Congrats!

     

    Three times!!!  I wonder if

    Three times!!!  I wonder if you might hold the record :)

    I think thats the way to go if possible.  Hopefully I won't ever need one again.

  • SnapDragon2
    SnapDragon2 Member Posts: 720 Member
    edited March 2021 #14
    Thanks you all!  It is a

    Thanks you all!  It is a great feeling.  Actually slept really good on my right side last night.

    Dan, stay ahead of/beat back the beast doing all you are doing.  Keep looking for answers to improve.  You don't find all the answers in one place.  Keep the extensive bloodwork on a datasheet to look for trends good and bad for more improvements where needed.  I wish your wife the best!

  • DanNH
    DanNH Member Posts: 186 Member
    edited March 2021 #15
    SnapDragon2 said:

    Thanks you all!  It is a

    Thanks you all!  It is a great feeling.  Actually slept really good on my right side last night.

    Dan, stay ahead of/beat back the beast doing all you are doing.  Keep looking for answers to improve.  You don't find all the answers in one place.  Keep the extensive bloodwork on a datasheet to look for trends good and bad for more improvements where needed.  I wish your wife the best!

    Thank-you!

    2nd Chemo Monday! Thanks for the inspiration!

  • yetti
    yetti Member Posts: 82 Member
    #16
    Port !

    Hello ! Does anyone know how long a person is able to keep a port ? Or how long it is safe to have one ?  I  Am actually a stage 4 endometerial cancer survivor but I read all the forums !  I saw this about the port and was interested !   I guess Im the opposite I'm in no hurry to remove the port !  I have always had an issue with blood draws ! I'm considered a hard stick. I have always had anxiety over it most of my 59 years of life ! My port has only had a few issues, I had to go to get a port o gram to determine why they were not able to draw blood from it !  I have had my port since  July 22 2018, I ended up with a pulmonary embolism Bc of the cancer ♋️  I had to stay in the hospital for a week with an Iv of med to dissolve the pulmonary embolism in my lung ! It was seen on a ct guided biopsy (out  patient ) and then was admitted through ER, i only had the clothes on my back !  I had painful blood draws done every 5 hrs ! Which collapsed every vein I had I was black and blue,  purple from my hands to my elbows ! They couldn't even find a vein to use for iv to do a IVC filter implant and the PORT , the had to send me back to my room for a very painful procedure , they used a machine to find a large vein in my upper arm and put in a high speed catheter in which to use for IVs  and I told them any and all blood ? draws from that point on !  The very next morning the lab draw person shows up to poke me several times in my arm and top of hand !  I told her you are going to access thie catheter for labs ! If you cant do it send some body else who knows how  !  I still continue to require port access for ct scans , pet scans, mri , and even for the colonoscpy  i had sept 2019 I arrange it in advance !  Then  one time they tried to find a vein in my arm  ! I stopped them , "I HAVE A PORT ACESS IT , look at the instructions that you had for 2 weeks  !  No port acess no procedure,  they tried to say there was no one who could acess it  ! I said port acess was pre arranged! If you can't  I won't do thr procedure today and I start getting up to leave  ! Guess what ? They manage to find someone PDQ !    I have also learned from this cancer that you have to advocate for yourself !! I also have my port flushed every 6 weeks  I would have never survived chemo without it !  Sincerely Yetti 

     

         

  • SnapDragon2
    SnapDragon2 Member Posts: 720 Member
    edited March 2021 #17
    I have no idea how long you

    I have no idea how long you are suppose to keep the port after chemo.  A nurse in my surgeons clinic has one.  She told me it was recommended for her to keep it 5 yrs with flushes every 6wks.  She gets it out this summer.  It might depend on type of cancer and stage, Idk.  In my case the cancer center I went to was bare min.  It was just a chemo filling station is the best way to put it.  I was ignored or brushed off and it was my surgeon who brought up removing it.  

    YES, you have to be your own advocate!  Good for you!  Learn all you can and use that knowledge for the best outcome.

  • Trubrit
    Trubrit Member Posts: 5,804 Member
    edited March 2021 #18
    SnapDragon2 said:

    I have no idea how long you

    I have no idea how long you are suppose to keep the port after chemo.  A nurse in my surgeons clinic has one.  She told me it was recommended for her to keep it 5 yrs with flushes every 6wks.  She gets it out this summer.  It might depend on type of cancer and stage, Idk.  In my case the cancer center I went to was bare min.  It was just a chemo filling station is the best way to put it.  I was ignored or brushed off and it was my surgeon who brought up removing it.  

    YES, you have to be your own advocate!  Good for you!  Learn all you can and use that knowledge for the best outcome.

    Like most things

    I think it depends on your Oncologist. 

    My Oncologist wanted my port out after my first clear scan. He said it is dangerous to keep in, as it ups the chances of blood clots.  

    I had mine removed promptly, and then my next scan was not so favourable, and discovered metastesis. Luckily for me, I didn't need to get the port re-installed. 

    It is wonderful to be port free. Mine was never comfortable, being situated right under my bra strap.

    I still have twinges in the area where it was placed, so I'll never be able to forget about it. 

    Tru

     

  • bmorton
    bmorton Member Posts: 10
    #19
    I spoke to a woman the other

    I spoke to a woman the other day who has had her port in for 22 years.  I have had mine for 2 years.

     

  • yetti
    yetti Member Posts: 82 Member
    #20
    Wow !

    22 years !  I'd be 81 if I waited till then !  I think I'd be comfortable. Removing it at my five year cancerversay !  i Was Dx June 28 of 2018. It will be 3 yr cancerversary June 28 2021 so June of 2023 is 5 years !  

  • SnapDragon2
    SnapDragon2 Member Posts: 720 Member
    edited March 2021 #21
    bmorton said:

    I spoke to a woman the other

    I spoke to a woman the other day who has had her port in for 22 years.  I have had mine for 2 years.

     

    What is the reason for having

    What is the reason for having it 22 yrs?

    BTW:  the dr who put mine in said he was the only one who could remove it.  I don't think so.  My body my port bought and paid for, my property :)

    Mine was causing thyroid irritation and inflammation (might be why thyroid levels are out of whack and deveoloped some nodules), causing stenosis in the main vein that also leads to your heart.  Dangerous in my case.

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