Picc or port?

CMorgret
CMorgret Member Posts: 13
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
I have recently had a picc put in my arm. However, when the nurse was changing the dressing and flushing it, she asked why I had a picc instead of a port. I only have 2 more chemo treatments but I will have 11 more treatments of one of the chemo drugs after that, ending at the end of July! Should I insist on having a port put in instead?

Comments

  • Sher43009
    Sher43009 Member Posts: 602 Member
    #2
    Ask your oncol.
    I wasn't given the option. I've had the power port for 1 1/2 yrs. Thankfully it hasn't bothered me too much.
  • mollyz
    mollyz Member Posts: 756 Member
    #3
    Sher43009 said:

    Ask your oncol.
    I wasn't given the option. I've had the power port for 1 1/2 yrs. Thankfully it hasn't bothered me too much.

    What?
    What is a picc? I wasn't given an option either!
  • Jean 0609
    Jean 0609 Member Posts: 2,462
    #4
    Love my port
    I wasn't given a choice. However, I love my port!!!! It is so convenient.
  • Rague
    Rague Member Posts: 3,653 Member
    #5
    Talk to your Drs.
    Talk with both your surgeon who implanted the Picc and you Chemo Dr. There may be medical reasons that the Picc is better/preferred for you. I'm surprised that the reason for a Picc wasn't explained or the other options.

    My port had been in since Aug 25, '09 and there are no plans to take it out anytime soon - 'just in case'. Yes I do have to have it flushed every 28 days but that takes less than 1/2 an hour and the knowledge that it's there ready IF needed is a peaceful feeling for me.

    Susan
  • carkris
    carkris Member Posts: 4,553 Member
    #6
    Jean 0609 said:

    Love my port
    I wasn't given a choice. However, I love my port!!!! It is so convenient.

    I did not have either.
    I did not have either. towards the end my veins were slim pickings. so I asked about a picc. but managed to get through. Perhaps they are using the picc for your last two treatments, and then regular IVs for the rest of the 11. Herceptin? Piccs are more short term weeks vs months.
  • carkris
    carkris Member Posts: 4,553 Member
    #7
    Rague said:

    Talk to your Drs.
    Talk with both your surgeon who implanted the Picc and you Chemo Dr. There may be medical reasons that the Picc is better/preferred for you. I'm surprised that the reason for a Picc wasn't explained or the other options.

    My port had been in since Aug 25, '09 and there are no plans to take it out anytime soon - 'just in case'. Yes I do have to have it flushed every 28 days but that takes less than 1/2 an hour and the knowledge that it's there ready IF needed is a peaceful feeling for me.

    Susan

    piccs also dont require an
    piccs also dont require an anesthesia type procedure to put in or take out.
  • Stace_aka_Pollyanna
    Stace_aka_Pollyanna Member Posts: 78
    #8
    carkris said:

    I did not have either.
    I did not have either. towards the end my veins were slim pickings. so I asked about a picc. but managed to get through. Perhaps they are using the picc for your last two treatments, and then regular IVs for the rest of the 11. Herceptin? Piccs are more short term weeks vs months.

    Car, how many tx's did you
    Car, how many tx's did you go through? I, too, asked about a port and Onc said IV would be fine (though the tx nurses would probably kick his AND my tush if I didn't drink water and "plump" up HA)... i've only got 4 tx's total beginning 22nd this month.

    Haven't heard of PICCS but will definitely ask...
  • Jean 0609
    Jean 0609 Member Posts: 2,462
    #9
    Stace_aka_Pollyanna said:

    Car, how many tx's did you
    Car, how many tx's did you go through? I, too, asked about a port and Onc said IV would be fine (though the tx nurses would probably kick his AND my tush if I didn't drink water and "plump" up HA)... i've only got 4 tx's total beginning 22nd this month.

    Haven't heard of PICCS but will definitely ask...

    Hi Stace
    I had 4 chemo treatments, however, have to do Herceptin for a year. That's why my onc wanted me to have the port. Good luck with your tx's. Hugs, Jean
  • CMorgret
    CMorgret Member Posts: 13
    #10
    mollyz said:

    What?
    What is a picc? I wasn't given an option either!

    picc
    To put it in layman's terms, a picc accesses a vein in your arm and then goes through that vein to your heart. You have the other end of the picc hanging out of your upper arm. It has to be rewrapped and flushed weekly. I have to wrap my upper arm in saran wrap to shower... I am thinking that given the length of time that I have to have this, the port would have been the more convenient option. Although the picc is less invasive than the port, I also think that it is more of a short term option.
  • CMorgret
    CMorgret Member Posts: 13
    #11
    carkris said:

    I did not have either.
    I did not have either. towards the end my veins were slim pickings. so I asked about a picc. but managed to get through. Perhaps they are using the picc for your last two treatments, and then regular IVs for the rest of the 11. Herceptin? Piccs are more short term weeks vs months.

    That's is what I am
    That's is what I am wondering. I have blood work and then a meeting with my doc/onc on Tuesday. I think that I am going to have a lot of questions for him! :)
  • CMorgret
    CMorgret Member Posts: 13
    #12
    carkris said:

    I did not have either.
    I did not have either. towards the end my veins were slim pickings. so I asked about a picc. but managed to get through. Perhaps they are using the picc for your last two treatments, and then regular IVs for the rest of the 11. Herceptin? Piccs are more short term weeks vs months.

    Yep. My cancer was HER2 positive (among other things) so I will receive the Herceptin for an entire year. Silly me, when they first told me that I assumed that it would be in some sort of pill form after chemo was over. I have since been informed that it will be IV just like chemo, once every 3 weeks for the 33 weeks following chemo.
  • disneyfan2008
    disneyfan2008 Member Posts: 6,583 Member
    #13
    pic line
    my mom had one but not for chemo..hers was due to very bad veins when very ill...helped her getting pricked over and over..
  • 24242
    24242 Member Posts: 1,398
    #14
    disneyfan2008 said:

    pic line
    my mom had one but not for chemo..hers was due to very bad veins when very ill...helped her getting pricked over and over..

    More Surgery
    I would think after a couple of chemo treatments that ones immune system is trashed so surgery wouldn't be the best thing I wouldn't think. I too wished I had a port after everything I went through including 8 days isolation with a raging blood infection the STAPH gone wild. I don't like being around people to this day because of germs and fears of catching things. Sad but true.
    All one has to do experience the revolving nurse thing cause they had to find the one with the magic touch. Today I have one good vein in my arm and very few can hit it first thing so digging around still occurs oh well not their fault.
    I can't imagine surgery today though they say I need some more. I guess I will have to wait and see what that full picture is going to be. Hang in there there is that light in that tunnel shining and soon to be in your face. Better at your back soon enough.
    Tara
  • Bella Luna
    Bella Luna Member Posts: 1,578 Member
    #15
    Ok... I know going under for
    Ok... I know going under for surgery is such a drag but... if you are going to have to continue with Herceptin treatment then I say get a port. I heard the pics are so bothersome. They get in the way and rub alongside your body.

    I had a port and underwent a years worth of Herceptin infusions. My port worked like a charm! It served its purpose and was taken out in September-Yippee!!!

    Best of luck to you.
    BL
  • tgf
    tgf Member Posts: 950 Member
    #16
    Bella Luna said:

    Ok... I know going under for
    Ok... I know going under for surgery is such a drag but... if you are going to have to continue with Herceptin treatment then I say get a port. I heard the pics are so bothersome. They get in the way and rub alongside your body.

    I had a port and underwent a years worth of Herceptin infusions. My port worked like a charm! It served its purpose and was taken out in September-Yippee!!!

    Best of luck to you.
    BL

    port
    Like most of the others said ... I wasn't given a choice. I also needed herceptin for a year ... so my port was ... and is my best friend. I finished herceptin last March ... but I'm keeping my port for awhile ... as someone said ... "just in case." I LOVE my port!!!

    hugs.
    teena
  • CMorgret
    CMorgret Member Posts: 13
    #17
    Thank you!
    I had a good chat with my doc/onc today. He agreed that if he were in my situation, he would want a port as well. So in the next little while, I will be having the picc removed and a port put in instead. I am really looking forward to this as the picc has already become a bit of a nuisance!

    Thanks to everyone for their input. It really helped!
  • TraciInLA
    TraciInLA Member Posts: 1,994 Member
    #18
    CMorgret said:

    Thank you!
    I had a good chat with my doc/onc today. He agreed that if he were in my situation, he would want a port as well. So in the next little while, I will be having the picc removed and a port put in instead. I am really looking forward to this as the picc has already become a bit of a nuisance!

    Thanks to everyone for their input. It really helped!

    Stace,
    I also had only 4 rounds of chemo (Taxotere/Cytoxan), and am blessed with good veins, so I did fine without a port -- they just did an IV infusion each time, and the blood draws in between as usual.

    Had I needed more than 4 rounds, I think I would have asked about a port, based on the experiences of the ladies here.

    And yes, my oncology nurses told me the same thing: DRINK PLENTY OF WATER beforehand!

    Traci

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