Port Instalation - Bionic Woman

Posted by liz on Mar 16, 2009 in Uncategorized |

The sun was just rising when my fever broke, what a night to have a fever, the night before my port installation. Especially for me since I’m never sick, and fevers are exceptionally rare for me. Alas though, I tossed and turned all night in anticipation and hot and cold flashes.

Amy W came and picked me up, bright and early and we started our trek to St. Francis up in Evanston. I was so happy that she went with me, for many reasons! but at that moment, she had been to the hospital already so thus knew where she was going. Sometimes it’s the small things that are soo important.

So we arrived, the staff was super nice and supportive, much different then my experiences at Northwestern. I felt like I was a human being, someone that cared, had feelings and emotions, and was treated with wonderful kindness and consideration.

For those that don’t know what a port is, here is your chance to learn! There are 3 ways to recieve your chemotherapy. You can get pricked in the veins each time, which for many causes vein failure in the long run. A Pick line can be put in, which means a small tube is inserted usually into the arm, and small tubes are continually hanging out of it, for the nurses to access, OR a Port can be put in. A port is a small device (see picture)

The Port

that is inserted under the skin, above the muscle with a tube that is fed straight into your veins going to your heart. Some of the benefits of a port are: you can go swimming, do yoga, wear a tank top or dress and not have tubes coming out. it’s much more ninja incognito like. it also has a more direct path to your heart and thus blood pumping system. ie.. the chemo spends less time traveling in your smaller veins where it can do more damage and spends more time in your larger veins where it can travel more freely.

How the port technically works is. there are 2 rubbery plastic disks on the top of it (see picture) and these discs are where the needle is put. Under the discs is a resevoir where blood can be drawn from or the chemo drugs can be put into. this reservoir is directly linked to the veins and blood system.

so my port was install, i woke right up, had an apple and was on my merry way. as you can see by the pictures, the incisions are very small.

Port Incisions

the one that is larger and on the bottom is where my port was put in, you can see the bulge under my skin, which will remain “bulgy” for the duration of the time the port is in. the small incision on my neck is from where the tube was fed into my large vein. i feel great and really strong. minus the slight headache and runny nose. as jason put it.. i am now a bionic woman!