03/29/2022
Well, it is finally official: on Thursday I will undergo one more surgery (my 4th since September) to get my port taken out!
Many people have never heard of a port or even know what one is so I figured now would be a great time to share!
When I got diagnosed, one of the first things my oncologist scheduled was a port placement and bone marrow biopsy. Luckily, I was able to get both of these done in the same surgery although doing that made the recovery more difficult for me since I do not tolerate the nausea from pain medicine very well.
What is a port?
- A port is a medical device implanted underneath the skin on one side of your chest. It is attached to a catheter that snakes up and over the collar bone and gets placed into my superior vena cava: a large vein that leads directly to the heart. Almost every person who gets a cancer diagnosis where chemo is needed will get this surgically implanted!
So why did I need one?
- A port offers a somewhat easier, safer route to access your bloodstream when you have more than 4 infusions scheduled. When I was undergoing chemo, I was getting poked with a needle about 4 times a week, some weeks more than others. Because I was constantly receiving IVs, chemo, steroids, and medicine, as well as getting my blood drawn to check my levels regularly, a port ensured an easy way to get all of that in there. Without one, you risk collapsing a lot of your veins in your arms since there is so much input/output. I know people who would have to start getting blood drawn from their feet because nurses could no longer access the veins in their arms! A port is also known to be a a little safer against infection.
- A port can be a little easier on the patient to have. They prescribed me a numbing cream that helped make it hurt a little less when accessing. After getting your port accessed 4-5 days in a row, it can be tedious and exhausting. This definitely helped me.
- A port is a necessity in some cases, because the chemo is so powerful it can actually create a lot of damage when exposed to one area of the body more than another. A port allows the drugs to be efficiently administered straight to your heart where it is pumped all over the body.
My port intake surgery was tough on my body. For one, they told me that I should have had a pediatric port placed since I am on the smaller side, but the hospital did not carry any. Since I also had my bone marrow biopsied, the situation got more rough. They couldn't get a large enough sample when doing the biopsy (they essentially take a HUGE needle into the back of your pelvis) so they had to repeat the biopsy process 3 times. For the surgery I was not put under so even though I was feeling loopy, I was still awake and was feeling a lot of pain and had to have more pain medicine injected during the surgery. I still have a tiny dot scar on my lower back from this. The bone marrow biopsy was very important because it helped determine how far my cancer has spread. If it were positive I would have been staged at 4 instead of 2. I'm still so grateful this came back negative. By the time the surgery team flipped me onto my back, I was still very much awake but more relaxed. The port intake surgery was a little easier than the bone marrow. Because they had to give me extra pain medication and stuff to knock me out, I woke up in a lot of discomfort and was very nauseous... not a fun recovery.
However, the nurses told me it would take 2 days to recover... so I decided not to cancel a wedding I planned on shooting before I got diagnosed. Looking back, shooting a 12 hour wedding 2 days after surgery was pretty tough although it was definitely my decision. In all, my port took about 2 weeks to heal because of the pain in my shoulder, back, chest, and neck. I am hoping the outtake will be much easier on my body!
I am grateful that I was able to get a port, but I cannot wait to have it out. For one, it is a constant reminder of what I have been through and the limitations that cancer has brought to my life. For another, I have to be very careful because it can be extremely dangerous and painful to knock the port out of place or disconnect the catheter from your vein. I haven't been able to work out as hard as I would like lifting weights, and I wasn't able to do my regular jumps and rails during snowboard season. I have a lot of back and shoulder pain still from my body trying to overcorrect and protect that area. Even bumping it or giving someone a hug can really hurt. It'll be a a huge relief to feel normal again!
Here are some photos to show how a port works, what it looks like, as well as some of the photos taken after the surgery. I know this is a lot of detail but I was pretty lost when I got mine so hopefully sharing this much can help prepare someone else for what to expect!
*one of the most thoughtful gifts given to me during this time was a seatbelt pillow to help mitigate the discomfort of sitting in a passenger seat where the seatbelt constantly rubs.** I highly recommend this as a great gift idea to someone undergoing treatment! **
Feel free to ask any questions :)
