no go on Thursday for me

[rinaina]

Well, after three hours plus the onc nurse staff today couldn't keep my vein open to start the chemo drugs for my 2nd treatment, so tomorrow I am scheduled for surgery to place a port in at 1pm and then straight from the hospital I will go back to the onc for the chemo treatment that was suppose to be today, which will make for another long day. Just a slight set back and it was a bit frustrating but it is what it is. I purposely made the point to my onc the first visit that I had terrible veins but he was adamant in wanting to try without a port because "his onc nurses are experts" at find veins and there are some risks with ports such as blood clots and infection. They had a bit of trouble at the first treatment and blew one vein but then got lucky, but at this treatment they couldn't successfully find a vein that would stay open enough to ensure no leakage of adriamycin which is potentially very dangerous if it leaks for many reasons. So I sat with a drip of everything except the chemo drugs for hours and they kept checking for a blood return but then when they were going to start the adriamycin they couldn't get a blood return so they took the I.V. out and arranged for a port tomorrow. They have a two person rule there,...if the nurse tries twice and fails, then they call in the next professional to try and she got it but wasn't sure it would remain open enough and sure enough it only stayed open enough for me to get my premeds and my anti-nausea meds. At least I won't be sore and nauseated this evening. Disappointing but what can you do? It is what it is and as long as they get me well and get rid of my cancer, that is what counts in the long run. They only have one arm to work with because once you have nodes removed you can't take blood or blood pressure from the arm on the surgical site.
My wig is GREAT! It truly looks so similar to my real hair. I am going back to my wig guys tonight so they can cut in a few more layers as they were very cautious not to over cut because you can't put back what you take away but you can always take away more. I am so happy my hair is gone, it was so traumatic watching it fall out everyday and seeing how it made me look. I look better bald! Never would have thought I would say that but it is true and it was a huge relief to not have to deal with the loss anymore.

[tousled1]

Why didn't they put a port in right away - before you started chemo?

[rinaina]

Hi Tousled1, when I went for my second consult with my onc, after I made my final decision he would be the one, and he is excellent and very highly regarded in his field, I mentioned to him that my veins basically were terrible, very tiny, superficial and he said that his nurses are excellent so we would give it a try. I guess I wasn't forceful enough and should have been, but it's not like I even had a port before. Glad I have it now though.