A small milepost today. I had the porta-cath surgically inserted. If you don't know what that is, it's a piece of plastic medical apparatus that is inserted under the skin, in my case, on my right shoulder, right under the collar bone. it goes into a vein and allows the chemo drugs to be dispensed via IV without having the nurse have to find a vein every time and also lets them draw blood for the blood tests. There are probably better medical explanations for it, but I only understand the bottom line definition. Since its under the skin it doesn't interfere with anything and doesn't get infected. It has to be flushed periodically and will be in me for quite some time.
The procedure went well but it took the entire day! I'm tired and need to rehydrate myself since I couldn't drink anything for well over 15 hours. And I was STARVING. I feel fine, wasn't totally "under" but only under what they call "twilight" I could hear things but was drifting in and out.
The site does't really hurt and tylenol should keep any pain at bay.
So Friday I should be starting my chemo. I'm a little nervous but only regarding side effects. I can handle the fatigue and hair loss, but I hope I don't experience any of the other ones, at least not for long periods of time.
I feel bad for Jack...he sat and waited the entire time. Or walked around the hospital, trying to find a comfortable place. Bless his heart, he was a trooper and even came to recovery, which he doesn't usually do.
Time for some TV and sleep.
I hated my porta-cath from the minute they inserted it until the minute it was removed. I still hate the scar. Maybe for me it was a sign that I was really sick. Maybe it meant it was easier to poison me. Many nurses have told me it's the way to go, and that life is MUCH easier with a port than without one. Whatever. I hated it.
ReplyDeleteI hope your port serves you well and that your attitude about it is better than mine was. Someday we can compare scars. :)
You can do this...I know you can! xo kate
Kate, I know exactly what you mean about the things we have to go through and the mental effect it has on us, i.e: reminding us, in our face, without a doubt, that we are sick. Its easy on a daily basis to forget, especially when you keep busy with things you choose to keep the thought out of your head. But the mirror is our enemy in this case. I couldn't look at my hysterectomy scar for the longest time. For me, I think its going to be my bald head. I don't know how I'm going to be able to look at it. The other scars don't bother me, I have plenty of them, so the porta-cath scar won't bother me either. And considering I don't have good veins and can send a newbie phlebotomist away in tears, I think the porta-cath will be my friend.
ReplyDeleteIts tender today and I am a side sleeper so I couldn't sleep on that side last night. Tonight I have to take the steroids, so good sleep may be out of the question. Maybe I can sleep tomorrow while getting the chemo.
Thank you so much for your support!