Cancer Journal 1, 2019

For the last two days, I’ve felt better. My surgical pain, though decidedly still with me, has been tolerable. I’ve not taken any oxycodone for pain in quite a few days, but I’ve increased my gabapentin by about a third in recent days; I suspect that may have helped.

My oncologist told me she was going to have a surgeon contact me about installing a port in my chest to simplify the process of chemotherapy and drawing blood. But that hasn’t happened yet, so I’ll call her today to find out what gives. My first chemo treatment is scheduled for next Monday, January 7; I doubt I can have a port done this week, so it may be a while.

My first “real” treatment will be Thursday afternoon, when I get my first radiation treatment. I hope to learn then the schedule for treatments (and I hope they’re in the morning from that point forward).

About John Swinburn

"Love not what you are but what you may become."― Miguel de Cervantes
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4 Responses to Cancer Journal 1, 2019

  1. bev wigney says:

    Oh, one more thing. A PICC is usually done by a sort of tech person who does lots of them –at least at our hospital — and didn’t take long — I think maybe 15 minutes to half an hour at most. It was very quick and we just chatted while she worked on it — of course, she’s been doing them for years. Anyhow, I imagine they could easily schedule it — assuming they are agreeable to using them at your clinic.

  2. Thanks, Bev. I’ll ask the oncologist when I call tomorrow (I planned to call today…and then it occurred to me they probably wouldn’t answer.)

  3. bev wigney says:

    I should mention that if you’re having bloodwork done ahead of treatments, then that can take the place of any necessary flushing of the PICC line. I believe that even a CVP needs flushing on a regular basis too.

  4. bev wigney says:

    You should ask why you can’t get a PICC line placed in your upper arm. That’s what Don used through his treatments. I can’t remember if there is a reason that one is better over the other. A PICC line does need a bit of maintenance — it needs to be flushed about every 3 days, I think. The visiting nurse did that at our house. They can take your blood through the PICC line as well. I don’t think it seems as invasive as a chest port — at least to some people. You can wrap saran wrap around your arm to shower. I don’t know what happens with a chest port. My mom had a CVP for kidney dialysis and it wasn’t really very pleasant in my opinion. I think a PICC line can be used almost immediately after it’s put in — it’s a very simple procedure — Don was fully awake for it – I don’t know if he even had any local anaesthetic, but probably at least a little.

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