What is it like to get a chemo port?

My experience

I hadn’t even officially received my diagnosis when I was told I needed a chemo port. The doctor told me to schedule the procedure and I challenged them- “Shouldn’t we wait until we actually knew this was cancer?” I tried putting it off. When the diagnostic center called me to schedule the procedure, I told them it wasn’t necessary yet- We should wait for a diagnosis! They called me back and said my doctor was confident it was cancer and I needed to get a port in. I couldn’t keep running from it.

The chemo port procedure

The day I got my port placed was a busy day. I had the day off work, so I had scheduled multiple appointments to take care of that day. The first thing scheduled for that morning was my port placement. It’s the appointment I was dreading most, so having it first meant I could get it over with.

I’m not sure what I was expecting to happen, but it is not what happened. I was given an IV, laid down, a sheet was hung above my neck so I couldn’t see what was happening, and then my neck and chest area were numbed. 

What happened next was awful. I could feel them pulling the catheter through my vein, tugging at my skin to get it in all the way. They kept telling me to “keep breathing”, but how could I breathe when they had opened my neck to pull tubes through my veins?

I asked if I could have more pain medicine, and they said no because I was pregnant. They continued to say that most people get muscle relaxers, but I wouldn’t be getting any since I was pregnant. 

I tried so hard to keep it together while they were putting the port in me. I focused on breathing and how I needed this before I could get better.

When the procedure was finally done and my husband and I were back in the car, I burst into tears. I just kept crying, “That was so hard!” And it was. And full disclosure, sometimes I still cry thinking about how hard that was.

Let me be clear: Not everyone’s experience will be as horrible as mine! I have since learned that some places use general anesthesia, so you’re not even awake for the procedure. And I was pregnant! So they didn’t give me as much medicine to cope as they would typically give someone.

Recovery from the procedure

Recovering from the procedure was the easy part. Some people start chemo immediately after getting their port placed. But since I got my port during my diagnosis process, there was a full month between me getting my port placed and me starting chemotherapy. I actually think this helped my healing because I was able to keep it bandaged and covered for the full recommended amount of time. Now I just have a clean scar where it was placed.

Using it for Chemo

The thought of using the port was freaky. Like, there was a foreign object in my chest that would be hooked up to IV and then I would get the chemo medicines through my chest? Yes. And actually, now I think it’s pretty cool. 

They just put a little needle into the port and that is what is connected to the IV. No more pokes and not being able to move your arm because of IVs! You just sit and hang out and get to move your arms like normal with no painful pokes!

How long did I have the port for?

I had my chemo port for about a year. When we found out that I was in complete remission, my oncologist decided it was time to take it out.

Is it worth it to get a chemo port?

If you are getting a chemo port, it’s worth it! It feels so good not having to be poked over and over again. It doesn’t hurt and even though chemo is a beast of its own, having the port at least makes it more comfortable than having IVs in your arm.

What is it like to get a chemo port? My experience