Getting port taken out

azgrandma
azgrandma Member Posts: 609 Member
in Ovarian Cancer #1
Has anyone here had their port taken out yet?
I get mine out next week and wonder if it hurts
Hugs Lynda

Comments

  • kayandok
    kayandok Member Posts: 1,202 Member
    #2
    I had my old port
    taken out and and a new one put in on the opposite side, a few weeks ago. They used a local, and putting in the new one was traumatic, with all the pushing and pulling etc etc, but taking the old one out was no big deal. I think it took all of 5 minutes, including the shots for the local numbing.
    Hope it goes easy for you too,
    kathleen
  • LaundryQueen
    LaundryQueen Member Posts: 676
    #3
    kayandok said:

    I had my old port
    taken out and and a new one put in on the opposite side, a few weeks ago. They used a local, and putting in the new one was traumatic, with all the pushing and pulling etc etc, but taking the old one out was no big deal. I think it took all of 5 minutes, including the shots for the local numbing.
    Hope it goes easy for you too,
    kathleen

    Infusion port
    Just wondering if your port goes up into your neck. Mine was put into the external jugular vein and then it migrated around until it looks like a candy cane now. Kind of freaked me out at first but so far, so good.
  • kikz
    kikz Member Posts: 1,345 Member
    #4
    LaundryQueen said:

    Infusion port
    Just wondering if your port goes up into your neck. Mine was put into the external jugular vein and then it migrated around until it looks like a candy cane now. Kind of freaked me out at first but so far, so good.

    I had a port in my abdomen
    and when my doc started to take it out my body had engulfed it in a web-like material. He really had to work to get it out. I told him that since he had removed so many things from my body it was trying to hold on to whatever it could. Didn't really hurt though.

    Karen
  • carolenk
    carolenk Member Posts: 907 Member
    #5
    kikz said:

    I had a port in my abdomen
    and when my doc started to take it out my body had engulfed it in a web-like material. He really had to work to get it out. I told him that since he had removed so many things from my body it was trying to hold on to whatever it could. Didn't really hurt though.

    Karen

    : )
    Karen

    You made me laugh because I would say something like you did under the circumstances!
  • azgrandma
    azgrandma Member Posts: 609 Member
    #6
    carolenk said:

    : )
    Karen

    You made me laugh because I would say something like you did under the circumstances!

    mine is in my right chest
    mine is in my right chest area
  • Hissy_Fitz
    Hissy_Fitz Member Posts: 1,834
    #7
    azgrandma said:

    mine is in my right chest
    mine is in my right chest area

    I'm on port number 2 (first
    I'm on port number 2 (first one eroded thru the skin like giving birth to an alien baby) and I think I'm going to keep it until (if) I pass the 2 year NED mark. Two years is the first big milestone with OC.

    Carlene
  • South Jersey
    South Jersey Member Posts: 89
    #8
    Easy Procedure
    Lynda,
    I had my port removed back in January. My doctor used a local and sedation for the procedure. When I woke up I felt great and had absolutely no pain as it healed. Believe me, with everything you have gone through with treatments, this will seem quite easy!
  • azgrandma
    azgrandma Member Posts: 609 Member
    #9
    South Jersey said:

    Easy Procedure
    Lynda,
    I had my port removed back in January. My doctor used a local and sedation for the procedure. When I woke up I felt great and had absolutely no pain as it healed. Believe me, with everything you have gone through with treatments, this will seem quite easy!

    must be ok
    It must be ok to do it in the office, his nurse says he takes out 2 to 3 a week .I hate to be sedated anyway, when i got it put in all i had was the novacaine
    Thanks to all of you for truly caring
    I feel you all are a second family
    Hugs Lynda
  • Cindy Bear
    Cindy Bear Member Posts: 569
    #10
    Good luck
    I am sure this will be over in no time. Treat yourself to something nice afterwards, you deserve it.
  • Mwee
    Mwee Member Posts: 1,338
    #11
    What? and lose my third nipple?
    just kidding... I have what I can only describe as an "outie" for a port. The nurses love it for it's so easy for them... :)
    (((HUGS))) Maria
  • TeaLurker
    TeaLurker Member Posts: 15
    #12
    Thanks to Hissy Fitz and ALL!
    Carlene,
    due to picking your virtual brain for months, I didn't suffer from "shock and awe" when my own Bard PowerPort (right jugular) went the same route. Since YOU had a new port placed on the left side, I didn't blink an eye when that was suggested. Wanted you to know that your information about this provided me with such relief and peace. Must have startled my Docs -- hah!

    On a nursing forum, I read that the 3 palpitation points on the Bard are considered a design flaw by some, but I rather think it was a CT nurse who didn't follow exact protocol (which led to the erosion). Did you have any opinions on what caused yours to erode? Regardless, my new port (left jugular) is an Xcela Power Injectable Port, and it doesn't have that design, so here's hoping this works for a long time.

    kayandok and azgrandma and South Jersey:
    You all did this (removal or placement) with a local? You are braver men than I, Gungas Din! General for me, all 3 times (right port placement, right port removal and then left port placement). Due to the right-side erosion, the left one couldn't be placed until the cultures for the right side removal came back consistently negative.

    LaundryQueen,
    not sure if you're talking about the left side? The right jugular is a nice straight shot, but the left jugular does curve, making it a slightly trickier procedure (or so I was told). My left one (all of 4 days old) is looking good so far. I'm supposed to take the bandage off today, but I'm feeling wimpy!

    kikz,
    my IP port is still "in", and when it makes its presence known, I wonder if I'm feeling your web growing! But see? Now that won't freak me out if it happens.

    Thanks to all, on this thread and elsewhere, for sharing your experiences.
  • Hissy_Fitz
    Hissy_Fitz Member Posts: 1,834
    #13
    TeaLurker said:

    Thanks to Hissy Fitz and ALL!
    Carlene,
    due to picking your virtual brain for months, I didn't suffer from "shock and awe" when my own Bard PowerPort (right jugular) went the same route. Since YOU had a new port placed on the left side, I didn't blink an eye when that was suggested. Wanted you to know that your information about this provided me with such relief and peace. Must have startled my Docs -- hah!

    On a nursing forum, I read that the 3 palpitation points on the Bard are considered a design flaw by some, but I rather think it was a CT nurse who didn't follow exact protocol (which led to the erosion). Did you have any opinions on what caused yours to erode? Regardless, my new port (left jugular) is an Xcela Power Injectable Port, and it doesn't have that design, so here's hoping this works for a long time.

    kayandok and azgrandma and South Jersey:
    You all did this (removal or placement) with a local? You are braver men than I, Gungas Din! General for me, all 3 times (right port placement, right port removal and then left port placement). Due to the right-side erosion, the left one couldn't be placed until the cultures for the right side removal came back consistently negative.

    LaundryQueen,
    not sure if you're talking about the left side? The right jugular is a nice straight shot, but the left jugular does curve, making it a slightly trickier procedure (or so I was told). My left one (all of 4 days old) is looking good so far. I'm supposed to take the bandage off today, but I'm feeling wimpy!

    kikz,
    my IP port is still "in", and when it makes its presence known, I wonder if I'm feeling your web growing! But see? Now that won't freak me out if it happens.

    Thanks to all, on this thread and elsewhere, for sharing your experiences.

    Tea Lurker....
    I thought
    Tea Lurker....

    I thought from the get-go that my first port was placed too shallowly. I told my doctor so at the time, and he dismissed my concerns by saying, "You're just thin in that area, so it's more noticeable."

    I was reading over all my medical records the other day and came across the notation from one of my visits that said, essentially, that I thought my port was eroding thru the skin, and how unlikely that was. Ha!

    I really don't think it happens all the frequently, although it was one of the little "points" on my Power Port that poked thru my skin first. And within a matter of days, I had a dime-size hole in my chest.

    Both my ports were placed under general anesthetic, but the "bad" one was taken out in the doctor's little in-house clinic, with only some shots of Novocaine. He did an alarming amount of tugging, too. Seems the first surgeon sewed the port down with permanent sutures and the guy who took it out uses stitches that disolve, so he did not expect so much resistance. I didn't like that part.

    I'm glad my experience was useful and made you a little less freaked out. It is quite the shock, the alien port experience.

    Carlene
  • LaundryQueen
    LaundryQueen Member Posts: 676
    #14
    TeaLurker said:

    Thanks to Hissy Fitz and ALL!
    Carlene,
    due to picking your virtual brain for months, I didn't suffer from "shock and awe" when my own Bard PowerPort (right jugular) went the same route. Since YOU had a new port placed on the left side, I didn't blink an eye when that was suggested. Wanted you to know that your information about this provided me with such relief and peace. Must have startled my Docs -- hah!

    On a nursing forum, I read that the 3 palpitation points on the Bard are considered a design flaw by some, but I rather think it was a CT nurse who didn't follow exact protocol (which led to the erosion). Did you have any opinions on what caused yours to erode? Regardless, my new port (left jugular) is an Xcela Power Injectable Port, and it doesn't have that design, so here's hoping this works for a long time.

    kayandok and azgrandma and South Jersey:
    You all did this (removal or placement) with a local? You are braver men than I, Gungas Din! General for me, all 3 times (right port placement, right port removal and then left port placement). Due to the right-side erosion, the left one couldn't be placed until the cultures for the right side removal came back consistently negative.

    LaundryQueen,
    not sure if you're talking about the left side? The right jugular is a nice straight shot, but the left jugular does curve, making it a slightly trickier procedure (or so I was told). My left one (all of 4 days old) is looking good so far. I'm supposed to take the bandage off today, but I'm feeling wimpy!

    kikz,
    my IP port is still "in", and when it makes its presence known, I wonder if I'm feeling your web growing! But see? Now that won't freak me out if it happens.

    Thanks to all, on this thread and elsewhere, for sharing your experiences.

    TeaLurker: my port is on the
    TeaLurker: my port is on the right side & I'm pretty sure the last inch of it is NOT in the external jugular anymore. As long as it still works, I am not gonna worry about it. I have the Bard PowerPort & I can imagine how those little points could erode thru the skin--ick!

    LQ

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