thanks

bunnie
bunnie Member Posts: 233
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
thanks too everyone that has responeded you have been real helpful.hope everyone is doing good on this site.Amy

Comments

  • DeeNY711
    DeeNY711 Member Posts: 476 Member
    #2
    Amy, how is it going for you? This week, I'm caught in the cross hairs between the radiology oncologist, who wants the port out of my right chest prior to radiation therapy and the oncologist oncologist who wants it in for 2 or 3 months to make sure we won't need it. Last chemo is today! I opted not to have reconstruction bilaterally, but may revisit that possibility in 5 years maybe and wistfully read through your options in the decision-making process. Hope all is well. Love, Denise
  • rizzo15
    rizzo15 Member Posts: 153 Member
    #3
    DeeNY711 said:

    Amy, how is it going for you? This week, I'm caught in the cross hairs between the radiology oncologist, who wants the port out of my right chest prior to radiation therapy and the oncologist oncologist who wants it in for 2 or 3 months to make sure we won't need it. Last chemo is today! I opted not to have reconstruction bilaterally, but may revisit that possibility in 5 years maybe and wistfully read through your options in the decision-making process. Hope all is well. Love, Denise

    Bunnie. Glad to hear you are doing OK. Some of responses you have receive to your questions have been very interesting to me too!

    DeeNY711. I'm on 14 of 28 radiation treatments. My radiology oncologist did not have a problem leaving the port in. But maybe it is because the radiation will damage the materials that your port is made of and will cause it to fail in some undesirable way. Since you are a bilateral person they may want to radiate somewhere near the port. I only had a mastectomy on the opposite side than my port and the port is not near where they are radiating. The chemotherapy oncologist wants the port left in for possibly up to two years. I'm told that that the small amount of Warfarin I take every day will keep the port nice and clear. They will check it every 3 months to make sure all is well.
  • DeeNY711
    DeeNY711 Member Posts: 476 Member
    #4
    rizzo15 said:

    Bunnie. Glad to hear you are doing OK. Some of responses you have receive to your questions have been very interesting to me too!

    DeeNY711. I'm on 14 of 28 radiation treatments. My radiology oncologist did not have a problem leaving the port in. But maybe it is because the radiation will damage the materials that your port is made of and will cause it to fail in some undesirable way. Since you are a bilateral person they may want to radiate somewhere near the port. I only had a mastectomy on the opposite side than my port and the port is not near where they are radiating. The chemotherapy oncologist wants the port left in for possibly up to two years. I'm told that that the small amount of Warfarin I take every day will keep the port nice and clear. They will check it every 3 months to make sure all is well.

    The port is right smack in the middle of the area to be treated. The titanium will not let the radiation pass through to the tissue in that spot. My first port was in my left arm but it send clots all the way up the arm, cutting the circulation off, and sent others into the subclavian vein where one pressed against the juntion with the jugular vein. Have been on
    Warfarin since June. We could not use the right arm for a new port or the left chest wall, so we put it in the right chest wall in order to permit the remaining 3 chemotherapy treatmest I still had left. The easy access of the port is nice. I was assured that if it is necessary, we can always find another spot to place another port though, so I feel a little better about the whole thing. Hugs, Denise

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