A Port for the Storm

My Lucky Sunflower Socks

My Support Team!

My Two New Scars My IV
My Gurney http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/08/20/cancer_blogs_become_part_of_treatment/

So, when they say it's only the size of a quarter - it's not. I must have a special one because it's more like the size of a marshmallow right now with the swelling. And it's purple - not that anyone can tell but it's a purple triangle the size of four stacked quarters. My surgeon called it my new best friend. No more needles in the veins - everything will now go through my port.

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The week started out with a very nice surprise - my parents brought my middle sister with them. She left her family and flew out from Texas to be here for the surgery. I would have said that my big mouth family would never ever be able to surprise me but there she was ringing the doorbell with me standing there trying to figure out which neighbor was standing there with flowers. Funny though - it did kind of upset me. "I must be really sick for you to be here" I said. "I'm not here here because you are really sick and I feel I have to see you while I can" she replies "I'm here because we are all in this together". It made me tear up. It is so nice to have her here.

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We got to the hospital bright and early and then spent much more time sitting around for this surgery. It's cold in those gowns but they brought me heated blankies. The surgeon said that when he takes the port out in a few months he can just do it in his office. They insert it in a hospital since there is a very real concern with infection. All of the hospital staff was once again wonderful - so very friendly. My sister was a little ray of sunshine. She took most of the above pictures and kept us and the staff laughing the whole time. She even conned some guy into letting her push my wheelchair out to the car. She didn't even run me into a wall.

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The surgery itself went pretty fast. They just had to sedate me. I remember being awake for most of it and trying to see what was going on but they kept making me turn my head. As you can see in the bottom picture above they put the port in under the skin right beneath my collarbone. They then sent a tube up towards my neck to where the top incision is and then inserted it into jugular vein down into the superior vena cava. I can feel the tube with my fingers - yuck. I don't remember much from the drive home except holding my sister's hand.

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I am very glad I did not start chemo today. I woke up still dizzy and nauseous. And I can't believe how much this thing hurts. It was impossible to lay down and not be in constant pain so I didn't get much sleep even with the percocet. It hurts to move my neck at all - even breathing. I tried to work this morning but only made it an hour and a half before I had to come home and nap. I made it most of the afternoon but spent a bit of time losing my lunch in the bathroom. The hospital called to check on me. She wasn't very happy that I was at work but I pointed out that I was not driving or signing legal documents. Tonight I feel better and dinner is staying down. It still really hurts though. And as you can see it looks yucky too. We will see if it's worth it or not - getting the port. I do get to wear a pretty purple bracelet to let any emergency personnel know that I have the port. So, we are all set to go next week. Next stop chemo.

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HAPPY 43rd ANNIVERSARY TOMORROW MOM AND DAD!

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And hey look an article about cancer blogs that I saw referenced on "My Cancer Deployment" blog -