Groshong Implanted Port

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nanuk
nanuk Member Posts: 1,358 Member
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
I'm wondering how long i can leave this thing in..it was installed Jan 2004, and the Doc says it's OK so long as it doesn't hurt, or get infected. I have to get it flushed once a month..do they eventually wear out?
Anybody had a port for more than a year? Bud

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  • kerry
    kerry Member Posts: 1,313 Member
    #2
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    Hi Bud,

    I have had 2 ports implanted. The first one was in for 9 months. The doctor wanted me to have it out after my chemo and a CT scan showed NED. Well, then after a year my cancer came back and I had another port implanted. It stayed in for 4 months and then the doctor (a different doctor) wanted me to have it removed.

    I think the docs just worry about infection and that sometimes there is a risk of blood clots.

    I know some people who have had their port in for several years.

    I guess you should do as your doc recommends. Good luck.

    Kerry
  • MJay
    MJay Member Posts: 132
    #3
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    I only had mine a little less than a year. But the chemo nurse told me of a patient who had hers for 10 years!!! Imagine that!!! She didn't need it that whole time. If I remember it was implanted for one kind of cancer. She never had it taken out and then 10 years later needed it for another kind of cancer.

    MJay

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