Port

Hi Sebbie and welcome to the board. I had a picc line so not much help there! Might be worth copy and pasting your post onto the bowel cancer board as there will be people who’ve had chemo but don’t have an Ileostomy so won’t see your post on here?

 Bowel (colon and rectal) cancer forum 

Take care

Karen x

Hi Karen thank you!  And thanks very much for replying and providing a useful tip.  I will post my question on the bowel cancer group.  

cheers

Sebbie x

Hi Sebbie,

I’m a newbie to this part of the forum too but have been quietly lurking here for the last 10 mths or so! I’m the proud owner of a permanent colostomy following a recurrence of my endometrial cancer. He’s called ‘Rambo’ as he can leave a trail of devastation on a bad day lol.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I had a power port fitted when I had chemo 18 mths ago. My veins are shocking, so I had it fitted prior to chemo starting. I had mine fitted under LA as day surgery. The procedure is relatively straightforward and I was constantly x-rayed to make sure that it didn’t puncture my lung etc. I had a little bit of discomfort for about 48 hrs but then I soon forgot it was even there. 

For me it was a no brainier. It doesn’t interfere with your every day life. You can shower as normal, go swimming etc. It also made the administration of having chemo so much easier. My port looked like a flat chunk of toblerone sitting under the skin lol. When it was chemo time, all the nurse had to do was insert a very fine cannula in the middle of the triangular shape (where the valve is) and hook me up to the saline etc.

My port was fitted close to the surface of my skin, so I was sometimes conscious of it being there if I had a more revealing v-neck top on. In fact that’s the only disadvantage that I can think of!

I kept my port for 18 mths and had no issues with it as I had it flushed through every month. Mine was also used by the chemo nurses for blood tests etc.

Good luck with chemo. Just remember to be kind to yourself.

Liz x

Hi Liz

Thank you so much for your lovely response, it made me smile!  My stoma bag also can create when I had a mishap, fortunately I’ve been home when it’s happened. 

The port sounds great so thank you for the useful insight, you’ve put my mind at ease and I hope I have a good experience like you did.  I will look at getting it done as soon as possible because my skin on my upper arm needs a break. 

Thank you. I hope everything continues to go well for you. 

Thanks again and take care, 

Sebbie x

I have had a port for a year & it is the best thing. My veins were a problem to access but this has been a lifesaver.  Go for it .