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In or out
Hi,
I had chemo in 2002 prior to the common use of trastuzumab and had my port for that. After that, I started a clinical trial with draws every 3 months for blood for a trial that is trying to find better markers for bc survivors who are at high risk for ovarian cancer. So I kept my port in for those draws, and got a flush every time that way. My port worked great and was never a problem.
The trial draws became less frequent this year, and are now every 4 months. This is not frequent enough to keep my port flushed. At my last draw, the nurse was top notch and it still took many tries before it would work. As a result, my insurance was billed over $300 for the extended nursing time and all the wasted equipment used for all the attempted draws before we got it going. That $300 was not for any lab work, but just for the nurse and the equipment used.
At 6 years out I am still NED and I still have never had trastuzumab, but that in itself is one reason why I've kept it. (Brains over beauty.) But at this point I am likely to have it removed at my next visit with my surgeon.
AlaskaAngel
Stage 1, T1c, ER+, PR+, HER2+++
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