Me again..my face is still swollen..hard blood clot

[nancy85]

hi
I am a frequent lurker on this site and do follow the threads. I cheer the successes and grieve the losses. I am a 6 yr survivor and did log on infrequently way back in 06 when I was going through my treatments. I have been meaning to re register and stop lurking, today my heart breaks reading your post and it has made me sign on.
I am a vascular access nurse in Canada, that means I have a speciality in vascular access devices and things to do with vascular access. You are describing SVC syndrome, superior vena cava syndrome. Basically your big vessels in your chest that drain your upper body including your head have narrowed or closed off due to a blood clot I believe in your situation. It is like the big highway is closed and the blood needs to find another route. These other routes are called collateral veins, they take time to develop. Blood thinners help to prevent anymore clots from forming. Don't have intravenous in the arm on the side where your port was. With time the swelling usually gets better.
All the best
Nancy85 ( my new user name, when diagnosed at 45 I said that I planned on living till 85!!!)