When Was Your Port Removed?

Capox Dude · October 2022

My oncologist just advised yesterday that if my scans and bloodwork look fine next spring she will recommend that my port be removed. That would be about the four (4) year mark from my DX and surgery.

When was your port removed - or how long have you had it if not removed?

I am a Stage 3 colon cancer patient with lesions on my liver that have not grown since my 2019 chemo ended. Current thinking is - maybe - not mets.

BoulderSteve · October 2022

I had pretty good lab results from pathology. In my case, I did chemo followed by radiation followed by surgery. Since the pathology was good we opted to remove my port when the final surgery reversed the ileostomy. My understanding was that if I opted to keep the port in, it would need to be flushed about once a month when not "in use".

Capox Dude · October 2022

They’ve been flushing mine every 6 months with no blockage issues.

SnapDragon2 · October 2022

I got deported about 6 months after adjuvant chemo.

1st onc said NO and that the surgeon that put it in would have to be the one to remove it. I told my CRC surgeon what he said and reply was BS, we will remove it :)

gmtexas · October 2022

Capox, BoulderSteve and Snapdragon, I envy each of you, taking the opportunity to remove your port. Capox Dude, to answer your question, I’ve had my port since July 2012. When not in treatment, I have it flushed every 3-4 months. SnapDragon, nice to hear you went 6 months between flushings. My port has come in handy, as my longest time in remission was three years. Been in remission this stint since January this year. No worry here, I’ll get mine removed one of these days, or simply continue managing my chronic disease when/if it flares. Best to each of you and all late stage colon cancer patients.

Capox Dude · October 2022

https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1700787#Comment_1700787

The only thing that matters is the 2012 thing. Keep up the good fight. You are amazing gm

gmtexas · October 2022

https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1700793#Comment_1700793

Capox Dude, thanks for your very kind words… and smile. We each are fortunate, having the opportunity to participate in these discussions.

beaumontdave · October 2022

https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/325762/when-was-your-port-removed

I had mine in from Dec. 2007 to Sep. 2014, my second liver resection. It clogged early and had to be stripped, an insertion through a groin vein, by the end I hadn't had it flushed in years. The fact that the surgery was about one tricky, but gettable met, is what allowed removal. I asked the onc./surgeon why no more chemo after Folfox following the initial colectomy [stage 3b], he said they'd taken their best shot then, so barring a distant 'pop ups', I wouldn't need it. It was nice to lose it, though the year after the resection was intense, with my right lung filling with fluid, and many scans, needle effusions and biopsies occuring. It was a tense finish, that echos even to this last week, eight years hence. I focus carefully to see the CEA test go back down after climbing four times to 3.0, then recede to 2.2. They have mentioned cysts in my lungs, the liver and elsewhere, so I suppose I'll always be ''looking over my shoulder a bit''. I hope you can take some joy in losing the port finally, I like to find ways to celebrate such moments. Good luck..............................................Dave