Medi-PORT placement feedback ???

[CRguy]

Continued thanks for all the inputs...all going into my memory bank for the surgeon's talk session.

It will probably be with me for a while because the Onc told me that although he wasn't "really" superstitious.....he likes to leave ports in for a few months after chemo, for a couple of scans at least ...just in case !

(( "alien" ...called my ileostomy the alien, so I will need a new name for the port I guess. was thinking "Ernie and Bert" when I have the tagalong 5FU infusion set. ))

Hey SBL...just saw your "sleep" comments after I posted. I was thinking the exact same thing. With the way I sleep now, a lefty would actually work better. Had issues with the rightsided ileo-pouch.

Cheers
CRguy

[karin]

hey Guy!! Bobbi had real problems when hers was placed. It was put in on the right side (she's left handed), the next day she had R facial droop, mostly involving her eye..........aka Horner's syndrome. She had her port removed in March (sepsis from her port)..she still has right eye droopiness. She will have a left sided port placed next week. Apparently, Horner's syndrome can occur when pressure is applied with the cspine rotated and extended.......now, Bobbi's a tiny little thing so he probably had to stretch her a little to place it???? Doubt you'll have any issues!!!

Good luck.
Luv and hugs,
Karin

[John603]

Hey CRGuy,

My gastro surgeon put mine in. She does a lot of them because many surgeons don't like to be bothered by what they call minor surgery. As a result she seems to be a real expert in putting them in. I've actually had two because I had the first one removed after adjuvant therapy and I had to have the second one placed after a recurrence. She was able to use the same incision line which reduced the amount of scar tissue that I have. She told me that the right chest is definitely the best place to put it from a physiology standpoint.

[CRguy]

Think I'll pass on the Horner's thanks, karin !

Good points John. I think the experience of the surgeon is everything. Our Oncs here say "The vascular surgeons do all of these" so no choice and I am good with that. I was actually going to ask which side they recc'd from their own experiences as well...which will probably lead into the "right side" anatomy/physiology issue. I do know when I do spays and neuters etc., I admit I get into a groove of doing them the same way all the time. Has worked so far !

Cheers all, and continued thanks
CRguy

[lorrainem]

Well, CRGuy, since you've made the decision to go braless, that's one less thing to worry about.

Great thread as I knew nothing of placement when it was my time. Seatbelts can be a trouble, they were on occasion for me. My placement was left side, never had any problems with infection, etc.
The one thing to think about is your shower if you'll be getting 5FU infusion. I showered while hooked up (I know, not supposed too, but it made me feel that much better...) I hung the pack outside on my towel rack, tied off a facecloth at the top of the port/hook up, covered the hook up by throwing a facecloth over that shoulder and gauged if it was getting wet by the saturation of the cloth. I know, I'm nuts.

The placement procedure was one of the easiest things I had done to me on my journey.

Good luck!

[CRguy]

Well, CRGuy, since you've made the decision to go braless, that's one less thing to worry about.
Good luck!

That's me...livin' on the edge ! But I still do really appreciate...ummm..all the ..support !

Cheers
CRguy

[helen098]

I had mine placed by the general surgeon who did my colon resection
He was the chief of surgery and lucky did a great job. Didn’t know you had a choice where to place it Mine was on the right side at the top of my breast
When I lost all the weight the bra did bother me a little (not a problem for you I hear)
It does move under your skin which does feel kind of weird and I felt mentally it made me
a cancer patient so I wanted it out the day after I finished chemo but he made me wait a whole year. I was a good cancer solider so I followed directions and didn’t shower with the pack for 12 whole treatments Summer in the subway after only a sponge bath yuck
When I was unhooked my brother (the one with the mental problems) would always call it freedom day and play the futurama episode where zoidberg eats the flag . boy did I look foreword to freedom day.

It really is not that bad even the first stick to access the port (again I never knew you could numb it I just Held my breath and thought of something else)
It does hurt like hell if you get hit there. Once my little dog bounced his whole 8 pound on my chest And I swear I saw stars like in a carton and once my “normal” brother thought it would be funny to try and hit me there With the dogs toy football well I screamed and cursed and said how would you like me to kick you in your balls
Maybe then you could understand the pain, stupid stupid stupid

I have to tell my after port story it is funny
I was so unprepared for all of this cancer stuff
When the port was placed (jluy 7th 2006 my brothers birthday-think I may have just walked home after the surgery No big deal at all and I did get the good drugs) it hurt a little sore mostly but my stomach still hurt from the resection on jun 6 So who knows where the pain was from)
The surgeon made a big deal about not getting it wet, I could not shower till I saw him the following Monday (surgery was Friday morning) and chemo started on wed (still had a few stitches for the first chemo)
Well over the weekend Sunday I think I started to notice it felt kind of wet
Terrified I had gotten it wet with my sponge bath and wouldn’t be able to start chemo and it would be too late I go the emergency room where I had the surgery done. It was Sunday morning and it was dead almost no people. I tell the triage nurse doc a place my port on fri and it seems wet and I am worried. Doc a she says just wait a minute I will get one of his interns ( apparently doc a was a real jerk and terrorized the staff) I give her my insurance card and she gives it right back – strange I think
The intern comes running into the emergency room less than five minutes later. So I tell him my story so far and how I am worried got it wet he opens my shirt to look at the bandage (come to think of it doc A also opens my shirt for you – I don’t think they shold do that should they? Though after mooning every doc in forest hills and flashing the docs and patients in the chemo room I have no shame any more) looks at the bandage doesn’t remove it and says with one of the best doc faces I have seen
It’s wet because it’s july and your sweating, the dressing is fine. I now feel like the worlds biggest idiot. He then says I wont’ even put this in your file so doc a will never know
not sure who would get in trouble if the doc knew me or him
Thanks I mutter and leave
As I am walking home (the hospital was only a 15 minute walk from my house) all I was thinking was this is going to be a very very long summer and it was.

So as long as you realize you will sweat you will be fine

Only my onc would access the port and the doc had to stick the needle in the nurse was not allowed to
So the onc basically looked down my shirt every time he had to give chemo or access the port

Remember to wear a button down shirt for chemo other wise you will have to wear the hospital gown (double yuck)

good luck

[TMGinMN]

Right handed, had it put on the right side. I've had it for 2.5 years, no problems. Just played catch with my son tonight. My stomach incision bothers me all the time, forget my port is there when not hooked up.

GOOD LUCK!

[Kathryn in MN]

My first one was left side. I asked for that because I am right-handed and prefer anything they mess with be on the left side. It was put into a higher vein - up and over my collarbone. This is to do away with the risk of puncturing a lung. It is more difficult for the surgeon, but better for the patient if they can do this. (Just because of the risk - not for any other reason.)

That one got infected the next day - unheard of - but it happened. They took it out 3 days after it went in, and left an open hole in my chest to let it drain. When it was mostly healed, I had another one put in. No choice - it had to go on the right side.

On the right side the surgeon couldn't get it to work to access the vein going by going over the collarbone. He warned me that it can't always be done. So this one went in like most people get, straight into the big vein in the chest, by the lungs. I had a lot of pain, but I don't think that is normal. Between an infection on one side, and still healing on that side, and a new one inserted on the other side, I had several weeks of discomfort. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't fun either. Seatbelts bothered me as a passenger for quite a while. (And I was passenger way more than driver for those months.) But now a seatbelt doesn't bother me at all. The only time it bothers me is if I get hit/bumped in the chest, right where the port is, and often it bothers me if I sleep on my right side. I find I can't roll too far onto that side, or I have trouble. It is bothersome enough to wake me up if I roll over too far onto the right. It took me several months, but I got used to it, and overall it isn't an issue anymore. But I will still have mine out June 3, as long as I get good results at today's appointment. I won't keep it. I would have let it stay for a while so I wouldn't have to go through another one being inserted down the line if I have a recurrance, especially since I will now have scar tissue on both sides. (And I still have a big "dip" on the left side where they left it open - that hasn't filled in yet.) But I can't get off the coumadin until the port comes out, and I want off that ASAP!

So when deciding which side, I'd say consider the seatbelt issue - are you driver or passenger more often? And consider sleep habits. If you usually sleep on one side, don't put it on that side. And ask your surgeon about reducing risk by going over the collarbone if they can.

[jmarie]

Mine is on the left, I don't remember getting an option though. I already had a PICC line at the time on the left also. For some reason my surgeon didn't want to remove the PICC line. After 3 days I was still really uncomfortable and unable to use my left arm. Turned out I had a blood clot because of the PICC l;ine still being in. So my pain wasn't really due to the port. I hardly notice it, never had issues with the seatbelt. I am a little self concious in shirts that show the port, but not everyone around me knows I have cancer. So I mainly don't want to run into someone and they ask what its for if they don't know about the cancer.

My Moms port was placed a little too close to her collar bone and was uncomfortable for her. Mine is low enough I haven't had a hard time sleeping on that side.

One suggestion I want to make is becareful of jumping dogs and kicking babies From what I understand they won't damage the port but it does hurt a bit.

[CRguy]

(thanx MonaL)

Just back from "Porting" adventure. Very slick operation : little bit of lidocaine, placed deep to level of vessel (I declined sedation), inserted BARD PowerPort with Groshong catheter, checked position with fluoro, made the port "flap", stapled up...out of there ! Had a very good (experienced) vascular surgeon. Discussed the R/L issue and decided right side. Says the run is more direct to where they want it (just where the major blood return to the heart is, so you get an instant mixing/diluting effect to the chemo infusion) said he would do left side but had concerns about my recent left sided thoracoscopic surgery, and the routing is a little less direct.
( In most of us the heart kind of tilts to the right side, so the subclavian vein/vena cava arching from the top of the heart is kind of "in line" with the right shoulder area. From the left, you kind of have to turn some curves and corners. He said these are the caths, and right side, he uses in kids with ongoing injection requirements and they stay functional for years.) He da man...so I will always defer to the honchos if given a choice.

Mildy sensitive right now ( 3 hours out ), not even sore, but slight tenderness (.. I've had way worse at karate workouts !) he says 1-2 days, T3's would be enough, keep on the daily aspirin. I have some leftover oxycodone if I need it. will sleep well tonight . Most discomfort was when they pulled off the adhesives for the iv cath and the ECG connections !


Cheers to all, and thanks for your inputs. Let me know if anyone has a porting adventure upcoming, I will let you know how mine is progressing. Temporary injunction on baby cuddles and puppy wrasslin'.

Now I gotta figure out a name for this sucker. Kind of reminds me of those shoulder mounted intercoms they had on the Star Trek uniforms. Just don't want anybody to tap it anytime they want my attention. They'll get it alright ( read helen098's post about her brother )

Cheers
CRguy

[ams5796]

CR Guy,

So glad the port placement is behind you. And it sounds like it went well. Having a port was truly a godsend and about the easiest procedure that I had throughout the journey. Sometimes when I go in for bloodwork or for an IV for a scan I wish that I still had a port. Made all that much more comfortable. As soon as I was done with chemo my oncologist wanted me to get it out. There must be a psychological reason such as closure. Unfortunately I may be needing another one.

Take care.
Ann

[Terry]

My first port was on the right side and it hurt for about 2 days after. For some reason I had pain in the shoulder (bad pain) and the onc. thought maybe I had bone mets. None found thank goodness so we figured it was hitting a nerve. I've had that one out for about a year and a half now I think and it still itches at times. The second one didn't hurt after at all and I haven't had any pain with it. It's on the left and I don't have any seatbelt or other problems. My first one was put in by a radiologist and the second by a general surgeon.

[Surroundedbylove]

Glad to hear the procedure went well - now on to kicking the big "C' in the you know where!

[airic]

I have a BARD powerport. Upper left side placement. Came with a cool braclet. My car has adjustable seatbelts so I set it to sit more on shoulder. My cancer surgeon put mine in no pain afterwards. I don't touch it cause it trips me out. Could not get blood out first 2 times, but now it flows fine. Good luck