how long did you keep your port in.

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  • Kvdyson
    Kvdyson Member Posts: 789
    #22
    How soon do you need to make

    How soon do you need to make a decision about your insurance? Also, have you talked to your medical oncologist's office about the cost if you had to pay out-of-pocket to have it removed? They may offer a discount if they know that you'd have to pay personally.

  • KatnHat
    KatnHat Member Posts: 27 Member
    #23
    TeddyandBears_Mom said:

    Hi Kat,

    Hi Kat,

    First, welcome to the board and congrats on finishing your chemo treatments! Yep, that is exactly what the numbing cream or spray is for. I didn't find the spray did a darn thing but the lidocaine gel did help.

    I hope you are doing well and starting to feel better every day.

    Love and Hugs,

    Cindi

    Thank you (better late then never)

    Thank you for your welcome, Cindi. I'm still wondering about getting the port removed. My doctor sister says I should get it removed before tissues starts growing over it, plus the fact that it's always been very hard to access (though I was grateful for it during chemo). My oncologist said no more than a year.

  • DrienneB
    DrienneB Member Posts: 182
    #24
    Ports far and near

    I went against my doctor's recommendation to keep my port for 3 years and instead listened to my mother. I had it removed a month or so after finishing chemo.

  • daylady
    daylady Member Posts: 122
    #25
    Keep it!!

    OK, I must be in the minority here.  I had a power port installed two years ago after Doxil literally friend my veins.  I LOVE  it!!!!  I get all my labs done through it, my Vit C infusions done through it, and if I were ever to do "chemo" again, it would be available.  When I am in Germany they do Vitamin and Detox infusions every day so they literally put in a needle, tape it up and leave it in the whole week.  All the nurses LOVE it.  You do have to make sure that it is accessed or flushed every 4-6 weeks, but I do not have any intention of taking mine out any time soon! - Helen

  • dybmapi
    dybmapi Member Posts: 3
    edited July 2018 #26
    Flushing

    Hi to all.

    About flushing, i had mine installed close to two years ago, for adjuvant chemotherapy after colon surgery. That was six months of chemo, every two weeks, ended in February 2017. I was told to flush it every six mnths, which i did up to 8 or 9 months ago, as my hospital moved to a new site and is not so easy to reach now. I went to the new place last Friday, and they told me that it had been decided to stop flushing, because the risks of infection are higher than the rewards! I was a bit shocked, and will see my surgeon for check-up in September, and while he had told me that he would take it off after two years if everything's fine, i may ask him to take it off this autumn based on the next results. Now, this is from Belgium, so the precudres may be different in the US, but be aware...

  • CheeseQueen57
    CheeseQueen57 Member Posts: 933 Member
    edited July 2018 #27
    Port

    i‘ve had mine since April 2016 with no end in site. Had a reoccurrence last year but NED on Megace. I love my port and was told only have to get flushed every 12 weeks. I’m also on eliquis. I’ve never had to go just for a flush. I’ve always had labs or some other test or a stent change and they’ve used the port. 

  • Armywife
    Armywife Member Posts: 451 Member
    #28
    Interesting!

    I got my port in June of 2017, finished chemo in October, and they told me I must get mine flushed every 4-6 weeks.  I've been doing that since October.  I haven't had labs at all since the end of treatment, but they always took my labs by vein - the port was only used for chemo.  I'm very interested in this information from Belgium - Europe can tend to be ahead of the US as far as medical, as I learned when we were stationed in Germany, so if I'm risking infection, I want to know it!  My port doesn't bother me at all - an occasional tightness or twinge, but nothing unmanageable.

  • Jairoldi
    Jairoldi Member Posts: 221 Member
    #29
    Port

    I've had my port for a bit over a year since placement. I recently asked about having it removed and my PA said we could talk about it in September. She also said she would want me to have a CT scan before removal. Now I am weighing the risks\benefits of leaving it in. I don't want more scans than necessary. I also gently out my foot down on port flushing every 6 weeks. I asked earlier about just having it flushed at my 3 month checkups. Denied. So I just didn't call to set up my flush appointment until shortly before my next check up. All went well and they reluctantly agreed with every 3 months. Whew! Fewer appointments works well for me.

     

  • Soup52
    Soup52 Member Posts: 908 Member
    #30
    Mine is a power port and just

    Mine is a power port and just needs to be flushed every 3 months. I have had it since Feb 2016.

  • txtrisha55
    txtrisha55 Member Posts: 693 Member
    #31
    I had mine in for two years.

    I had mine in for two years. trish

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