A Port?

When I heard port, I’m thinking a nice sweet after dinner drink. That’s definitely not what they were talking about. What is this port and how does it actually work? Well the doctor’s don’t really tell you before it’s put in your chest or really after it’s bulging out of your chest.

A chemo port is a small, implantable reservoir made of plastic or metal about the size of a quarter with a thin silicone tube that attaches to a vein and sits just under the skin. Sometimes called by brand names such as Port-a-cath or Mediport, the device is inserted in your chest during a short outpatient surgery.

The main advantage of this vein-access device is that chemotherapy medications can be delivered directly into the port through a needle that fits right into the port rather than a vein. You also can have blood drawn through the port. When all your cycles of chemotherapy are done, the port is removed during another short outpatient procedure.

Let me take you back to March 16, the day of my first chemo treatment, but also the day I had my port put in.  No one should allow for you to be scheduled to get your port and have your first chemo treatment in the same day.  It makes for an even more uncomfortable, uneasy and painful process than it already would be with just getting chemotherapy.  Unfortunately because of the timing I really didn’t have a choice. What they should warn you is that you don’t feel the port while it’s being put in because you are put out, however when you are awake boy you sure know it’s there.  I would know it was there at the first poke of the needle going in and about a week later. It was very raw and tender and with not a lot of fat on my chest, it was very noticeable! I like to think that I can handle pain and have a high pain tolerance, but this was one of the worst pains I’ve experience.  I’ve experience a few more since this (of course cancer related).

Not only did I have to go through the pain the first day, I would have to return to the clinic to continue my treatment the next day because the port procedure in the morning took longer than expected. My very long and strong treatment would now not just be one long day but two very long days. Luckily the pain subsided before I would have my second treatment.

My port would be removed at the time of my double mastectomy and I will forever have a scar reminding me of that day, the pain and the fight.  It’s one of my many battle scars - cancer and non cancer related! I’ll talk more about my scars one day, even the one that I got when I was attacked by a shark (or more like coral)!