Port flushed but wont draw-next step

barbebarb
barbebarb Member Posts: 464
in Colorectal Cancer #1
Has anyone had this occur? When I recently had surgery the nurses tried to draw from my port and couldn't. They used alspaste (sp?) to try and get it unclogged.
Will the next step be a replacement?
It is the Dignity model?
Any help or experiences shared appreciated.
Barb

Comments

  • swimmer22
    swimmer22 Member Posts: 60
    #2
    dual port
    Well I have a dual port-- lucky for me as begining in August they could not get a blood return on the left side of the port- although it flushed well. It has never provided a blood return since. They tried three times with the medicine to open it up without success. I stil have it flushed every 6 weeks. If you have a singel port they may need to replace it if you are still actively using it.
  • janie1
    janie1 Member Posts: 753 Member
    #3
    Did you try different
    Did you try different positions.....arm above head and cough?.....lay down?
    Not getting blood return is common. Some use a clot bluster drug, but sometimes that doesn't work for long.
    It was difficult on me from the beginning a year ago. Since August they have been drawing blood out of my hand, and it works good. I don't think it hurts doing that long term. You shouldn't need a new port. As long as the chemo goes in. There's usually a flap that forms at the port. Chemo goes in, but blood coming out .....not so easy.
  • PhillieG
    PhillieG Member Posts: 4,866 Member
    #4
    Flow Study
    They can order a "Flow Study" where they do a scan of sorts and can confirm that the port is positioned properly.
    I've had issues with blood return on my port for many years, the flow study/test just confirms that it's OK. You should not need a new port. As Janie suggested, sometimes they have you put your arms up and get into weird positions but I think that's just for their amusement to see what we'll do when asked!
    ;-)
  • barbebarb
    barbebarb Member Posts: 464
    #5
    PhillieG said:

    Flow Study
    They can order a "Flow Study" where they do a scan of sorts and can confirm that the port is positioned properly.
    I've had issues with blood return on my port for many years, the flow study/test just confirms that it's OK. You should not need a new port. As Janie suggested, sometimes they have you put your arms up and get into weird positions but I think that's just for their amusement to see what we'll do when asked!
    ;-)

    Port and flow study
    Thanks tor the info. Ill be contacting my oncologist soon for next routine visit and next chemo steps.
    Barb
  • smokeyjoe
    smokeyjoe Member Posts: 1,425 Member
    #6
    barbebarb said:

    Port and flow study
    Thanks tor the info. Ill be contacting my oncologist soon for next routine visit and next chemo steps.
    Barb

    I had times when they had
    I had times when they had trouble, turn your head and cough, lay down, raise your arms...sometimes all it took was they'd call another nurse, she'd do the usual push and she'd get a blood draw .... some nurses just seem to have a majic touch to this....
  • Kenny H.
    Kenny H. Member Posts: 502 Member
    #7
    smokeyjoe said:

    I had times when they had
    I had times when they had trouble, turn your head and cough, lay down, raise your arms...sometimes all it took was they'd call another nurse, she'd do the usual push and she'd get a blood draw .... some nurses just seem to have a majic touch to this....

    Ive had it happen bad 2
    Ive had it happen bad 2 times now. Sent me in for flow study, port would flush but not gravity feed fluid. Gave me blood clotting fluids (took 2 hrs) but got it to draw blood and flow good.

    Two treatments later it did same thing. This time they found if I sat up straight in chair not reclined it would flow. Deep breaths helped it to. Try moving your body around in different posistions to see if it will go then.

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