Clearing the Port

I went to have my dye study of the chemo port this morning. The procedure was quick and painless, and I am happy to report that the doctors found absolutely nothing wrong with my chemo port. It works beautifully and is positioned perfectly. This means that provided my CBC checks out tomorrow, I should be able to receive my fourth AC chemo treatment as scheduled tomorrow. Yay!!!

When the nurse knows what she is doing, accessing the port really doesn't hurt me that much. When nurse L accessed it, it was always that way, too. But during my last round of chemo, I had nurse A -- who was not that good, I am afraid. Not only did she claim that the port "moved" on her, but it really hurt when she accessed it. After that, she put the protective clear covering on so weirdly that it tugged on my skin in the most uncomfortable way. I had to ask her to redo it before I could bear it. But as nurse P at the hospital proved today, it doesn't have to be like that. I noticed, though, that both nurses L and P used two fingers to stabilize the port while accessing it. I believe that nurse A failed to do that. So I'll have to remember to make sure that nurses always do that. It's sad I have to check on new nurses that way, but it is in my own best interest...

Another thing I learned today is that I should not allow anyone to take my blood pressure on ANY of my arms right now, including the right arm that is normally my "good" one. The thrombosis is low enough on the arm that the constrictions from the blood pressure cuff gets uncomfortable really fast. When I noticed the discomfort, nurse P acted quickly and got it off, which was good since my arm was turning quite blue. Instead, she offered to put it on my leg. That was a marvelous idea I gladly accepted. So from hence on and until the DVT has cleared, I'll insist on having my blood pressure taken on my legs. I learn something new just about every day...

What else has happened since I last posted? Oh, that's right, on Tuesday afternoon I went for another topping off session with the boob man. After he added another 50 ml to my foob I really started to feel the stretch. Given that I am now on lovenox to thin my blood and given that I really bruise easily now, we decided that 50 ml was enough for the day. Today I am particularly glad for it, as I can still feel the stretch of that little bit of extra fluid pushing against my muscle and skin. 

So I had two doctor's visits in two days, and both were successful. That's nice. Two more visits tomorrow and Friday for chemo and the Neulasta shot, and I'll be done with HALF of my chemo. Yay, yay, and yay. Can't wait to leave the red devil and his sidekick cytoxan behind me. After that, it'll be on to Taxol and whatever 'joys' that may bring. But first I have to make it through my last round of AC. 

Since even the thought of ice cream, which I've been using to cool my mouth during the administration of adriamycin, even the thought of ice cream makes me nauseous. So this time I'll have to try something new. The best I can think of is to take some strawberries and peaches and freeze them so I can suck on those as they push the red devil in. We'll see how that goes. But for right now I am just very relieved that I can go ahead with chemo tomorrow. I'll try to post again from the treatment room, just because it is so much fun...