Port A-Choice

If you're reading this, maybe you have been diagnosed with cancer,
hopefully you haven't.
But if you have
fear not, you are not alone...
which is good to know because this a marathon, not a sprint.
And the first thing you will need to do is amass a TEAM to help you make it to finish line. Truth told, from this point on, the finish line will forever be ahead of you.

If you're having chemo (or know someone who is),
you may have been given the option of having a port(a-cath) placed.
A port, is a small, device that is placed underneath your skin that allows the chemo nurses access to your veins. Instead of receiving chemo intraveniously each day, week or month, the port provides easy access, without frying your veins.
I never considered NOT having the port. But the port placement was a consideration.

The doctor or PA will put the port in one of two places: in the chest, above the breast or in the underside of the bicept. Mine was placed in my chest, a disappointment to me because it restricted me from wearing some of the hot summer fashions that I wanted to wear. Having breast cancer did not diminish my sense of style. My plastic surgeon wasn't thrilled with it either. His job is to eventually make my chest look great. After a bilateral mastectomy, he's got his work cut out for him.

The other location suitable for port placement is the arm, which would have been my first choice, had I been given a choice. Unfortunately, my provider decided where to place the port; I didn't. Oncologists also generally prefer that the port be placed in the chest, in case it becomes infected.

Wherever your port is placed, know that it will be with you for a while. Mine was placed January 5, 2010. It was a simply, straight-forward procedure that was slightly complicated by the Fentanyl that I was given as a pain reliever. In addition to discovering yet another narcotic that I am allergic to, my port remained in my chest through chemo, radiation and beyond, until it was finally removed on November 9, 2010.

Removing the port meant the end to monthly flushes (where saline is injected into the port, followed by a flush of Heparin to prevent the port from clotting). But it has also left an ugly scar, one that I am treating with Mederma, and I hope will fade over time.

Like I said, it's a marathon.