Getting yourself an implant (Chemo Survival Guide Part 3)
Picture of a chemo-port implant. A specialized needle is inserted in the yellowish circle you see in the middle of the port, which would lie under your skin. The device then transfers the drug through the tube directly into your circulatory system.
Something you may hear about soon after being diagnosed with cancer and facing the prospect of chemotherapy is a little device called a chemo-port or portacath (port-a-cath). These medical ports, which also go by other names, are basically little implants that are placed inside you to facilitate the administering of chemotherapy. While the idea of getting an implant surgery may frighten you, believe me when I say that the chemo-port is a very useful little device. If your doctor advises this option, you may want to consider it seriously.
Chemotherapy usually involves the placing of very toxic compounds inside of you intravenously. A chemo-port aids in this process in the following ways:
1) Having a chemo-port means that your oncology nurse will not have to go searching for a vein every day you’re being treated. Not only does this mean that he or she won’t be prodding your arm with needles in search of a vein, but it also reduces the damage caused to the vein by repeatedly injecting the vein.
2) Since chemotherapy drugs can be very toxic to skin and other tissue, it is vital that it is kept away from these tissues. A chemo-port ensures that the drug is delivered directly into the bloodstream. Patients who opt to stay away from portacaths may suffer damage to the skin and muscle in the areas in which the chemotherapy drugs are being injected. This damage can get very severe sometimes and can lead to amputation in extreme cases.
3) Having a chemo-port means that some of your blood work can be done with samples extracted through the chemo-port (although this is not always the case) and, if you get sick during chemo, drugs such as antibiotics can be injected through the chemo port.
Getting a chemo-port implant is a relatively easy procedure, it’s a same-day outpatient procedure and recovery from it is very fast. You are in and out of surgery in less than half-an-hour (not counting prep time of course). Getting it removed is just as simple.
I personally loved how the chemo-port made chemotherapy a lot easier for me than for some patients that did not have it. Other patients told me they were especially annoyed by the nurses having increased difficulty finding useful veins after a few chemo sessions. The chemo-port isn’t all happiness: there is the feeling of something inside your body (usually just under the skin on your chest), you may have to go on regular visits to the oncology department to have it cleaned, and it does generate a mild discomfort sometimes, but the benefits far outweigh these inconveniences. While I still feel some discomfort from where the chemo port used to be to this day, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
The previous post in the Chemotherapy Survival Guide Series:
NEXT POST IN THE SERIES—–> HERE.
