[shelli]

I just had a PET, CT's, & MRI"S. I also have bad veins/no access. I guess we are never supposed to use the affected arm of lymph node removal for B/P's or venipunctures ever again & my good arm vein got very scarred from blood draws. I asked & tried to insist on them using my port for the contrast medium in the above tests & was told NO! I believe the reasoning is PET- the contrast is a very sugary substance that can completely clog the port and make it unusable again. MRI's/CT's now often use a "high speed injector" to infuse the contrast, so they can not use the port with it for some technical reason but none of the techs. could explain why. I was more scarred of them trying to hit a vein with all of these tests than the actual tests themselves. My insurance company wouldn't allow the onco to draw my labs & I had to go to an outside lab where they couldn't draw through my port, therefore they ruined my only good vein I had & I am now scarred for life & will always have this unnecessary problem to contend with.