Stage 2a rectal cancer start Chemo: Does the PICC line hurt?

Hi Lou,

I had a similar experience as yours. I was stage 2a with a T3 tumor. I had chemoradiation before my LAR and oral chemo for four months before my ileostomy reversal at 6 months after LAR. So I don't have personal experience of the Picc line, but can be reassuring about the ileostomy reversal. While life with an ileostomy is definitely manageable, it is wonderful to be beyond that. There is a rough period following the reversal, but within 3 weeks, I was living with no restrictions, good overall control and able to live a pretty normal life. Now I have been back to work for several months and am living an almost completely normal life. I am not quite as once a day regular as before my cancer, but it's really no big deal and way better than life with the ostomy. There are so many stories of difficult reversals, but many more successful ones and I thought it would be helpful to hear one.

Rich

Wow I’m so thankful to hear your story. Thank you so much. They do suggest radiation after 4 cycles chemo before reversal and have only heard bad things about the radiation. They say it can affect the reversal negatively and possible that my ileostomy becomes permanent. So I guess it’s a wait and see for me . Take care!!Lou

Picc is a piece of cake if you have somebody that knows what they are doing. Had one put in took this nimbo 2 and half hours to do which should be a 45 minutes at most Took this gal so long I told her I had to go to the bathroom she said no I said yes as she was doing a sterile procedure which her sterile technique sucks as I worked in surgery. I finally just got up and she wanted to follow me into the bathroom . I said no & did my business And no infection The picc line lasted 3 days and fell out Told them it would not last with the work I do Did they believe me I guess maybe after it felt out So just get somebody that knows what they are doing Ask how long does IT take for you Find somebody that is good don't do pot luck which is what happened to me

Excellent advice, I will ask how long it will take and ask for experienced tech for sure. I have a hard time my veins are so small anyways. Thank you!!

Does anyone have experience with an 18 week treatment of folfox chemo through port? Wondering side effects compared to chemoradiation currently undergoing for stage 3 rectal cancer. Thank you.

When I had mine done I think it took 1.5 to 2 hours from the time I went in the surgery room to when I was allowed to go home. I have near-zero recollection of the actual procedure being done because I was under some sort of sedation.

Since my experience was so different from cvestor's, that might be another question to ask - what kind of sedation is used?

While we're on the topic, having my port removed was done under local anesthetic and took about 20 minutes.

Thank you for your comment, I asked chemo nurse she said arm is frozen only so no sedative. I wish there was a sedative because I’m always so anxious lately. Lou

Good thoughts on how to proceed Only sedation they used was some local which made the procedure painless.. It's really not that big of a deal you just lay there and the line is insert. I walked in and walked out Would have walkout sooner but dumbo was not good

lol, hopefully smart quick people working on Monday!!

Thinking about you tomorrow, @lou3. You got this. How was it getting the peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) line? Or will that be done tomorrow?