Question about port placement procedure: How long? What to expect?

Posted by lexuskbe @lexuskbe, Sep 21, 2023

My port placement is scheduled for 7:30 am and must be at Mayo at 6am. I will get anathesia (sic). How long does the procedure last and what time would I expect be finished ?

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I had mine placed 4 days before my chemo started. Local anesthesia and by a doctor who i learned later is very good. Better than i thought. It sat in its space on the other side of the cancer breast for nearly 2 years. Never a problem. I would sometimes just tough it, run my finger across it and think about the scientist and engineer that created such a device that it can be providing hassle free needle to blood transfer of the drugs i needed. Amazing. Only when I got it out, did I look at it online. It was beautifully placed and never moved. Clogged once as my treatments stopped because i had Covid. Just an hour to flush a solution and back to normal.

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HOW DO YOU TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF, LIKE BATHING AND KEEPING IT CLEAN AND WHERE DO THEY OLACE A PORT?

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@millard

HOW DO YOU TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF, LIKE BATHING AND KEEPING IT CLEAN AND WHERE DO THEY OLACE A PORT?

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What a great question! The port is under the skin, totally covered. When the nurses access it they puncture the skin and a permeable spot on the port with a flexible needle. The flexible needle can be connected to draw blood and/or provide the chemo or other medications or fluids. So shower away once you are healed

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@maggieb892

What a great question! The port is under the skin, totally covered. When the nurses access it they puncture the skin and a permeable spot on the port with a flexible needle. The flexible needle can be connected to draw blood and/or provide the chemo or other medications or fluids. So shower away once you are healed

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Thank you for this valuable info. on ports.

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@millard

HOW DO YOU TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF, LIKE BATHING AND KEEPING IT CLEAN AND WHERE DO THEY OLACE A PORT?

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The port is under the skin and requires no cleaning. It essentially is worry free, only the nurse will clean it before she puts the needle in. You may be prescribed lidocaine that is a numbing cream. In case you do not like needles. Once the needle is in, you rarely if ever feel it in use. Amazing compared to needle sticks. I was a platelet donor stuck by a needle every 3 weeks or less for 25 years.
A port was a delight. Take a shower as you always do. A port put in correctly will not be an issue.
The port for me was above the breast area, just above the chest on my right side. I can barely see where it had been, and mine was removed March 31, 2023. A reminder of the engineer who created a port for us.

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@katgob

The port is under the skin and requires no cleaning. It essentially is worry free, only the nurse will clean it before she puts the needle in. You may be prescribed lidocaine that is a numbing cream. In case you do not like needles. Once the needle is in, you rarely if ever feel it in use. Amazing compared to needle sticks. I was a platelet donor stuck by a needle every 3 weeks or less for 25 years.
A port was a delight. Take a shower as you always do. A port put in correctly will not be an issue.
The port for me was above the breast area, just above the chest on my right side. I can barely see where it had been, and mine was removed March 31, 2023. A reminder of the engineer who created a port for us.

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The only consideration I've had with my medical port is the strap on one of my bras rubs against the medical port - it doesn't hurt; but it can be annoying. But that medical port was the best thing for my chemo treatment. I now go in about every 12 weeks to have the port flushed - which takes about 5 minutes to clean and flush with a solution - which I believe is just a saline to make sure the port remains usable.

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@lexuskbe, how did the port placement go? Now that you've had the procedure, what would you share with others who are about to have a port placed? What do you wish you had known?

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