Mediport

Mom has been receiving chemo for the second week. Her doctor suggested to have mediport installed, but the nurse has been able to find veins to give IV. Per discussion with interventional radiology, the reason for mediport is that the chemo drugs will harm the vein, so it is better to do IV through mediport. Mom worries about the pain and inconvenience associated with the mediport. She is having excruciating pain from Taxol, so does not want anything adding to the pain. Is it really necessary?

for me it was very convenient to have the port especially if you have to have your veins pricked every day. i have a laptop with me when i had chemo and the port allows me to move my arms freely.

Yes, my husband had it placed and it works well. See if you can have a power port placed. They are smaller and fluids can be administered a bit faster.

i never had a port and i did fine.  however, i always had 'good' veins.

if your mom is that uncomfortable about it, maybe she can try it withouth the port and see how it goes.  if it doesn't work out, then she can just have the port put in.

i wish your mom well...God bless!

-Stacey

Husband has always had a port. It is much less traumatic to receive chemo through the port, and makes it easier to draw labs which can be frequent at times. It is also difficult to get veins on someone once they dehydrate, so if you start having side effects from chemo and need hydration it's a breeze. It's hard to grasp what goes on with treatment at the start, so it may seem like you don't want it because it's something different, when in fact it can make things easier.

I did not have a Mediport, I had what is called a PICC line, it was put in my arm in a main artery and it made it a lot easier to have my Chemo as I would have a large dosage once every three weeks in the hospital, and then for the next 3 weeks I would have a pump 24/7, so it was a necessitity for me. Also my viens were damaged from the Chemo as it is in most cases so it does make it a lot easier to manage. I had a VON nurse come in once a week to flush the PICC line and redo the dressing and every week to replace the pump line. It was a god send for me, and not really as much work as one would think. The choice is your moms, but the majority of people do receive either a port or a picc line. 

Take Care and Be Positive

Evelyn