when did you have your port out

caligal · 03-02-2008, 03:43 PM

Just wondering the onc wanted it to stay in or you got it out pretty much after chemo was done

sassy · 03-02-2008, 04:45 PM

I think I'm a little different. I still have my port and haven't had treatment for a year. I am scheduled for Zometa next month. My port is not a problem, we still do blood work every three months.......Not sure if I should have it out or not. Glad to hear anyone else's opinion too.

goops · 03-02-2008, 06:30 PM

My port had to be removed while I was still getting chemo, a piece of it broke and got sucked into my heart.

They did my 11 Taxol treatments and my herceptin treatments using an IV.

I was told that this is very rare but I think that it is wise for a person to have theirs removed as soon as they are done with treatment.

Yorkiegirl · 03-02-2008, 06:42 PM

My chemo was finished August 2005, and my last Herceptin was finished the end of August 2006. I to this day still have my Port in. I get it flushed every 6 weeks. As long as it is not causing me problems it will remain in.

It has come in handy a few times when I had to go the hospital to have tests and was put under with a local.

Cannon · 03-02-2008, 06:52 PM

I think this will work - this is the thread I bumped up a while ago when I was thinking about removing mine - I stopped Her in early Dec 07 and still have my port - see my onc once a month for blood tests/port flush, scans every 6 months.

http://her2support.org/vbulletin/sho...t=port+removal

There are many other threads on this topic - if you go to the top right from the main board, click on "search this forum" and type in "port removal" (without the quote marks).

Rebecca

nitewind · 03-02-2008, 07:24 PM

Hi Cal, this is timely. I'm scheduled to have my port out tomorrow morning at 10am. My last herceptin treatment was on December 7. I'm nervous a little, but I think it will give me some closure, won't be a constant reminder of what I've been through. I figure if I would need it again (God forbid) I can always have another one put in. I guess it's just an individual choice, whatever makes you feel better. Good luck.
Hugs

tousled1 · 03-03-2008, 12:28 AM

I hadmy port removed about a month after finishing Herception. My thought was that if I needed another one ut in I could always get one. Well, I did end up getting another one put in just a few short months later. If I had to do it all over again would I? Yes I would. I enjoyed those few months without a port - gave my mind a chance to forget about cancer for a while and start new treatment with a new attitude.

weezie1053 · 03-03-2008, 12:47 AM

My port is scheduled to be removed on March 13. I have a double port, and the only explanation I ever got for the size of my port was from the wondersful nurses who commented "UVA is a teaching hospital, and that is what they must have been teaching that day." So I have lived with a double port for 18 months, and I am ready to let it rip. If I break a leg, you put on a new cast--not the old one...that's my theory! I also seem to have a larger tube in my neck, and I am ready to quit hiding behind collars and turtlenecks!

Louise

janet11 · 03-03-2008, 10:00 AM

I had to stop Herceptin early because of low LVEF and the day I got that news, I said "now I can have my port out?". My onc smiled and said yes. I saw my surgeon and had it out 2 weeks later. It meant 'end of treatment'. And even though treatment ended earlier than planned, the odds are I'll never have to deal with bc again.

Jyber · 03-04-2008, 11:17 AM

I had my port removed this morning. It was insterted a year ago, soon after my mastectomy and sentinel node biopsy. I then had six months of chemo and several additional months of herceptin alone. I too had to stop the herceptin because my LVEF kept dropping, although never below 50. Since the LVEF did not recover after a break, my oncologist felt that the herceptin had to be stopped permanently, thus there was no need for the port.

I never minded the port but am glad that one more part of this is behind me.

AlaskaAngel · 03-04-2008, 12:38 PM

Caligal, most have the port removed once they have completed treatment, some for "closure", some because they don't want to deal with the constant flushes and the expense for those to keep the port functional, and some because it is a foreign body and as such could (although unlikely) present an additional access point for infection. Those are all good reasons.

I am NED at 5 years out and never had trastuzumab so I kept mine to keep that possibility open, but also because it is handy for the clinical trial blood draws I get several times a year. Plus I don't think much of the surgeon where I am located and if I need a port put back in, it would mean a trip to Seattle. It is also true that we all have different body characteristics and for some, if a port does have to be put in again, since they always use the best location the first time around, the second time they may be less satisfactory even if it does actually function well.

My port has never been a problem for me and both my Seattle surgeon and my PCP have no problem with leaving it in. The surgeon who put it in did a good job and I rarely remember it is there. I am not at all self-conscious about it, but if I were I would have it taken out.

AlaskaAngel

Joan M · 03-04-2008, 08:02 PM

I had my port removed after three years.

Kimberly Lewis · 05-19-2008, 06:31 PM

I get my port out the end of May for the 2nd time! I got a staph infection in it and had to remove it. My veins were so bad after having AC put through them that the nurses insisted I get another port asap. Well - now that I am coming up on my 3 yr NED celebration I figure its time to get it out again. My new oncologist (I moved) says that we will probaby do an oral chemo if my cancer did return - so it isn't neccessary. Looking forward to being free of that weird lump in my chest!

Gerri · 05-19-2008, 07:54 PM

Kim,

I know what you mean about AC ruining your veins, mine are shot! I got my port in time for my second Taxol - much too late. That is the one thing I would change with my treatment. Had I known what would happen to my veins, I would have insisted on getting a port before starting chemo. Now it is a struggle to find a vein each time I have to have blood drawn or something injected.

I had my port removed about 3 months after I was done with Herceptin - easy procedure. Once I no longer needed it for treatment, I was more than happy to have it removed.

caya · 05-19-2008, 08:39 PM

I just finished my year of Herceptin on May 8, 2008 - my onc. says he likes his patients to keep the port in for a year after the last infusion. They will use the port for my blood work draws when I see him for my 3 month appointments. It will be flushed then as well.

I am wondering though, is this once every 3 months flushing enough? I have heard of some women having their ports flushed every 3 -4 weeks.

all the best
caya

Kimberly Lewis · 06-04-2008, 10:11 AM

There are several opinions of how often to flush ports...
The $40 copay I had every time I got a flush was such a financial burden. I was more excited to be free of that than the actual port itself!

Brenda_D · 06-04-2008, 03:58 PM

My last Herceptin was May 14th and I'm scheduled for port removal next Monday (June 9).
Both my Onc and Rad Onc said there's no reason why I shouldn't get it removed, and since I'm not wanting to go get it flushed every month, I'm ready to get it out.
I figure the less doctor appointments I have over the summer, the free-er I am to enjoy my summer and forget BC, the better the summer will be.

tdonnelly · 06-04-2008, 05:20 PM

Hi,
I will need to have my Power Port indefinitely as my veins are in too bad a shape from all the years of blood draws (thyroid disease) prior to bc treatment. Not sure if I am happy with this but I know its necessary. If this were not the case I might still be incline to keep it at least for a year after treatment.

Tamara
Invasive Ductal Carcinoma 10/2006 HER2+

juanita · 06-04-2008, 05:54 PM

I'm not one to really answer this question because of the change in oncs. But I did have my port removed when I quit the first onc that I had. I hated it anyway and not sure I'd have had one if the second onc wanted it. I got all of those chemos and the year of herceptin without a port.

Jackie07 · 06-05-2008, 09:57 AM

My oncologist was suggesting to remove the port because he thought I worried too much about recurrence. But another doctor I saw on the Weekend Clinic not too long ago told me that the port usually is kept for a year after chemo.