March 23

                Surprise, surprise today we had another trip to the hospital. This time to meet with a general surgeon who would place a chemo port. This port will be placed in my chest, just below the collarbone and is used to administer the chemo drugs. Because so many of the chemicals are so toxic it is hard for the small veins in your hand or even the ones in your arm to withstand them for long. With the port you have direct access to the large arteries in your chest. This allows the medication to be diluted quickly, and less likely to cause irritation. It also makes it easier for the nurses because they do not have to try and find a vein every time I go in for treatment, they can just plug into the port.

Here’s basically how it works:

Waiting around at the hospital

                The wait to see the doctor was probably the longest one we've had so far. I suppose surgeons are a bit busier than oncologists. Either way it seemed a bit extreme to wait over an hour for a 15 minute with the doctor. He explained how the procedure would work and showed me a port. It was a little smaller than I had expected. Since it goes under the skin it should be easy to maintain. The procedure is done in one day, and the actual surgery only takes 20 minutes. I won’t have to undergo general anesthesia like I did for the biopsy, but instead they will give me some sedatives and numb the area. This means I will wake up sooner, and be less likely to feel sick after. After the quick explanation we scheduled the surgery for the following Tuesday and went on our way.

                The rest of the day was very normal. I went to work, and Chase to class. It felt good to not be running around from hospital to clinic. I could get used to this once a day thing. I just have to keep looking forward to the time when all of this preliminary stuff is over, and we can begin a more regular treatment schedule.