I do not have a port and am receiving Herceptin every 3 weeks for a year. My onc has a lab in his office where they check blood counts every visit, and I get finger sticks to be able to save my veins for the Herceptin line. When he wants blood chemistry (every 6 weeks) I make a separate appointment a week before my infusion so they can use the vein in my arm. Since I work near my onc, it is no big deal to do this.

Herceptin and the solvents it is dissolved in, unlike many of the chemos, is not dangerous to the tissue surrounding the veins if somehow the line accidentally gets yanked out of the vein during the treatment. If you have good veins and don't mind the sticks, the port isn't a necessity for this treatment.

Hopeful

Revisit the Port Removal Question
 

I am bumping this thread up, as I am about to finish my year of Herceptin. My onc has not said anything about removing my port, and I am inclined to wait, I think at least six months. Wondering if anyone has some new thoughts or comments...thanks
Rebecca

When yo finish your Herceptin it is usually up to you if you want it removed right away or wait. My oncologist said that I could keep the port for up to a year and just get it flushed once a month. I opted to have it removed. Unfortunately, I developed mets and had to have another port put in. But, if I had to do it all over again, I'd have the port removed right away as I did.

My port was uncomfortable so I had it removed after I finished Herceptin. The doctor was hesitant to do so, then he checked over my chart and said that since it was unlikely for the cancer to reoccur to go ahead and remove it. If it would not have been so irritating, I would have left it a bit longer. Perhaps I was allergic to the rubber line?
BTW. I wish I would have not had the meds they gave me to put me into twilight sleep. I was dizzy and nauseous for a week afterwards. Just some Ativan or Halcion would have been enough. Some seem to have them removed with just the local.

Kate, it looks like you recurred mets within 3 months - so the port was only out for a short time, right? That's what I worry about. More of the same uncertainty.

Rebecca

Rebecca, I understand your concern...I had the same ones when it was time to remove mine. I'm Stage IIIA, her2/neu, 3+++, er & pr positive, 5 of 16 positive nodes, Richardson scale 9 of 9. I wasn't able to have rads either which worried me. But my current onc and my 2nd opinion onc up at City of Hope both told me to have it removed when I finished my herceptin. I wanted to leave it in at least till I hit the two yr mark. But they both insisted I get it removed.

I can tell you *now* I am glad I did it. (Its been out for almost 9 months now and so far NED.) (Knock on wood) There is no way to know when or *if* you will recur. So I am betting on I won't. :) Positive thinking. You said your onc hasn't brought it up....next time get his/her opinion? That might help you decide. Good luck to you.

Chelee

Rebecca, when I knew I wouldn't be continuing Herceptin, I ASKED my onc if I could get my port out now. She didn't bring up the subject, but I couldn't see having my port only for every-3-month blood tests (and having to come in and get it flushed monthly). She thought about it and agreed, and I had it removed.

If I have a recurrance and have to get another, then so be it. But for now, I'm cancer-free and having NO port just reminds me of this every day.

Anyway, that was my thinking. Good luck.

Port Removal
 

My experience, went thru 4 months of dose dense chemo wo port. When Herceptin became available to me, I had to get port.

Although I never had any problems with it, one month after my last Herceptin treatment (was on Herceptin for 2 years) I had it out.

And I'm glad I did. If I need it again, I'll have it put back in but after nearly 3 years of feeling like a patient, I needed the reminder gona asap.

Just me, you have to decide what you're comfortable with.

Either way, Godspeed and Good Luck to You!

Ginagce

I feel my oncologist said it best when she suggested I have my port removed after three years in Sept. 2006: "There's no good time to remove a port."

When she had suggested I remove it, I asked her whether it was okay now, because I had seven positive nodes, and that was her answer (even though I knew she never suggested removing it before then because of the positive nodes).

My onc has a lot of wisdom and always says the right thing. After all, we don't have a crystal ball to help us make these decisions.

I removed the port and five months later the cancer showed up in my lung. "There's no good time ..."

I had my port flushed every 6 weeks.

I will be finishing my herceptin in December and have decided to keep my port in for awhile maybe 6 months. My onc suggests removing it after the last herceptin treatment. I have a cyst on my brain that is being watched MRI every three months and am having a PET scan end of December for lump in my neck that does not show up on CT scan, so I am reluctant to have it removed with these issues. I just look at the removal as one more procedure I don't want to deal with and it is a safety net if the cancer comes back. Most patients recurr within 1 year after treatment. So I am keeping mine for a while.

I still have my port and use it often as I see my onc every two or three months. It was never suggested to me to have it removed and it doesn't bother me. I am on and off herceptin (looking to go back on now as my tumor markers are increasing) so think it's best to just keep it for now. If I am NED for a couple more years I'll get it out.

Cathy

Thanks
 

Thanks, everyone, for sharing your thoughts and experiences. I guess I'm going to go with my gut, as I have all along, and keep it for a while. It doesn't bother me, or make me feel more like a patient, and the thought of another "procedure" makes me sick to my stomach. Only 2 more herceptin treatments to go! and that makes me very happy (I've been going weekly for a year). And if I have to get the port flushed once a month, it's a good excuse to see my onc. I'm pretty sure I'll be in withdrawal after seeing him weekly for so long.

Rebecca