Chemo Ports and Birthdays

Today I got my chemo port implanted in my chest/neck.

This was probably the procedure I’ve been most scared of (other than the actual whipple surgery) because they are actually putting a foreign object into my vascular system but it turned out to be the easiest so far.

I showed up at the hospital around 7:30, signed in and was taken back almost immediately after sitting down in the waiting room.  They took me to a room in radiology that had about six beds lined up, three on each side, all curtained off.  I was given a personal items bag and a wrist band (I’m really getting quite a collection on both of those) and of course the ever flattering hospital gown that opens in the back.  I was told I could keep my bottoms on but everything above the waist had to go.  Before I could change, the doctor came in and explained the procedure to me.

He had a little book with a physical example of the port and how it would look and feel under the skin, which while it gave me the wiggins, I found helpful.  He explained that they would be implanting it in my right side because that has been proven to be the most efficient and that goes into my chest and has a tube that goes into my neck (vein?).  I didn’t know about the neck part and that really started to freak me out.

He left and I changed and laid down.  The nurse came in and started my IV and it was the most painless one I’ve had put in since this whole journey started so I was very grateful for that.  Once she was done it was about a 10 or 15 minutes of waiting that felt like forever because I could hear every little thing that all the other patients in the room were going through and since I’m very empathetic I was starting to get more anxiety from what they were going through as well.

Finally, a nurse came out and wheeled me into the room where the magic was going to happen.

I had initially been told when I had the meeting with my oncologist that I would be knocked out for this surgery but that was not the case.  Turns out it was more of a relax/twilight kind of situation and I wasn’t a fan of knowing that I was going to be awake when they cut into me.

They gave me some antibiotics, anti anxiety medicine and finally fentanyl through my IV and suddenly I no longer cared if I was going to be awake or not.  I just sort of drifted for the next 20 minutes or so and then they were done.  I was wheeled back to the room I started in and left to sleep it off.  I was probably out for like a half an hour or so when the nurse came in and asked if I wanted to eat.

They brought me a tray with scrambled eggs, some potatoes and a small thing of raisin bran which I ate all of because I think that fentanyl might give you the munchies…

Once I ate and was a little less groggy, they came in and explained my aftercare.  Bandage on the port stays on for three days but the bandaid on my neck can come off tonight.  I’m allowed to shower because the bandage is supposedly waterproof but if I notice it getting wet underneath I’m just to remove it altogether.  Under the bandage there is some purple glue that will start to flake off once the bandage is removed and might take a week or so to come off completely.

No lifting above ten pounds.  No exercise where I move my arm over my head too much but I was told running is okay.  It should take about 30 days to heal completely but I can probably start exercising with arm movement in about a week.

That was it, I was told to get dressed and I got walked out to Rob where he drove me home.

I was still quite groggy/high on the way home and promptly passed out when I got to the house.

So there we are.

It’s starting to hurt a bit now, more like a muscle soreness than anything.  They didn’t give me any pain meds but I still have some from the last two procedures and I haven’t had to use them yet, Advil has been keeping things cool so far.

Tomorrow, if I’m still feeling okay I will go back to work.  I will leave early for an “education” appointment at the oncologists office where they will teach me all about the chemo and then I start that next Monday.  So things are really moving and shaking on this here cancer train now.

That’s really all I have on that subject.

I had a good birthday on Saturday.  I wasn’t into it at first, I was having a really bad headspace day, crying most of the morning.  But I headed over to Rob’s dad’s and we had our group celebration (Rob’s Bday was earlier this month, mine was Saturday and his dad’s is today).  I got a lot of cancer related presents and Rob’s sister made us these amazing red velvet cupcakes and homemade ice cream that has been making me very happy ever since.

After that we headed over to my work for dinner (none of us were very hungry as we didn’t eat lunch until two) and a show.  The nephews had helped us out with advertising the current show “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” and so they were comped dinner and show tickets for their time.  The show was great and the kids had an absolute blast though they had a hard time sitting still all that time.  Josh was fanboying hard for Snoopy and then got really shy when we went to introduce them after the show but we were able to get their picture taken with him so they were really happy.

I got to see a couple of my theatre peeps I hadn’t seen in quite a while so that was nice.  I was glad I didn’t bail on the day because although it was tiring and my brain wasn’t in the best space, I feel like it fortified me and made me feel loved which I kind of need right now.

Okay, that’s really all I have now.  If I learn anything I feel worth documenting tomorrow at the education appointment, I might update tomorrow night, otherwise it will probably be after my first chemo session on Monday if I’m feeling up for it.

Please enjoy the following pictures of the presents my husband and my sis in law Liz and the nephews got me. Not pictured are the amazing red velvet cupcakes and homemade ice cream that my sis in law Laurie made because they are long since put away in my belly. 😀

Liz made me this chemo bag with items a friend who had recently been through it recommended.