I also had a mediport implanted - wisest early decision I made for this journey. During chemo my hands were free - I could read, write or knit. Initially someone suggested applying lidocaine to the port about 30 minutes before treatment to minimize any discomfort when the port was accessed. After a while that was too much trouble - I just breath deeply and there is some slight discomfort but no pain. I completed chemo '22 but still have my port and go about every 6-8 weeks for a port flush. I'm going to find out how long I should keep the port, I've heard of people never having it removed. But as one of the other individuals indicated - nobody else uses the port. So blood draws still from the arm and CT/MRI scan contrasts also through the arm. As I understand there is special training that is required to be certified to use the port so that's probably why it can't be used by other technicians.