Today, I'm recovering from the port insertion. I had it done in the radiology department at the Rose Medical Center main hospital.
We got there early this morning for the procedure. We were walked to the care unit of the department to get prepared. I got changed into the surgical gown. They put an IV line into my left arm. But no blood was drawn this time. Thank god...since I'm a bit tired of getting poked with needles.
I met with the radiologist to answer any questions we had. He gave me an overview of the port devices that I could use...one for the arm or one for the chest. Both are basically the same. The port is a bottle cap looking device with a silicon bulb in the middle and attached to a catheder line. The chest port is placed under the clavicle bone under the skin. The line is then brought up to the neck and then put inside the jugular vein in which is just hangs down. The arm port is put in the bicep and the line is brought up the arm and put into the vein. In either case, the silicon bulb can be felt under the skin. According to the radiologists, there are more risks with the arm port because it's smaller, so it was an easy choice picking the chest port.
After talking with the doc, they wheeled me into into a room where they were going to do the procedure. Above the table was a big x-ray machine to give a visual to where the line will be going. This is the reason why radiologists do this procedure vs someone else. Apparently, the first round of sedation didn't really kick in, because I was still talking coherently when the doc was asking me questions. So, they had to add more...which knocked me out. Next thing I knew, I woke up in the post-care unit.
Luckily, I ordered food ahead of time so I had something to eat right away. Because of the surgery, I couldn't eat after midnight the night before, so I was pretty hungry. I know the secret now.
It's been a pretty hard day. I've been pretty tired for most of the day, dazing in and out, while watching TV. I can see the port underneath the skin, and I can definitely feel it. My neck hurts like crazy because they had to move the muscle in order to put the line in the right place. So, that's been a bit tough, because it's hard to swallow.
We got there early this morning for the procedure. We were walked to the care unit of the department to get prepared. I got changed into the surgical gown. They put an IV line into my left arm. But no blood was drawn this time. Thank god...since I'm a bit tired of getting poked with needles.
I met with the radiologist to answer any questions we had. He gave me an overview of the port devices that I could use...one for the arm or one for the chest. Both are basically the same. The port is a bottle cap looking device with a silicon bulb in the middle and attached to a catheder line. The chest port is placed under the clavicle bone under the skin. The line is then brought up to the neck and then put inside the jugular vein in which is just hangs down. The arm port is put in the bicep and the line is brought up the arm and put into the vein. In either case, the silicon bulb can be felt under the skin. According to the radiologists, there are more risks with the arm port because it's smaller, so it was an easy choice picking the chest port.
After talking with the doc, they wheeled me into into a room where they were going to do the procedure. Above the table was a big x-ray machine to give a visual to where the line will be going. This is the reason why radiologists do this procedure vs someone else. Apparently, the first round of sedation didn't really kick in, because I was still talking coherently when the doc was asking me questions. So, they had to add more...which knocked me out. Next thing I knew, I woke up in the post-care unit.
Luckily, I ordered food ahead of time so I had something to eat right away. Because of the surgery, I couldn't eat after midnight the night before, so I was pretty hungry. I know the secret now.
It's been a pretty hard day. I've been pretty tired for most of the day, dazing in and out, while watching TV. I can see the port underneath the skin, and I can definitely feel it. My neck hurts like crazy because they had to move the muscle in order to put the line in the right place. So, that's been a bit tough, because it's hard to swallow.
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