| Senior Patient Advocate Patient Advocate (old timer, 2000 posts)
Joined: Sep 2006 Posts: 8,311 | The port is a "devise" which is a temporarily permanent procedure that involves the insertion of a catheter into a blood vessel to provide a painless way of drawing blood or delivering drugs and nutrients into a patient's bloodstream over a period of weeks, months or even years. It is usually hidden under the skin so you can takes showers etc without worrying but anytime they need to draw blood or give IV fluids they will always have an entry place. I became very dehydrated and was constantly having to have fluids and blood work and each time it would/could take them forever to find a vein. Many times they had to call "THE VEIN EXPERT" to hook me up and that was usually after several Rookie attempts failed. Not fun when you feel like crap to begin with.
David
Age 58 at Dx, HPV16+ SCC, Stage IV BOT+2 nodes, non smoker, casual drinker, exercise nut, Cisplatin x 3 & concurrent IMRT x 35,(70 Gy), no surgery, no Peg, Tx at Moffitt over Aug 06. Jun 07, back to riding my bike 100 miles a wk. Now doing 12 Spin classes and 60 outdoor miles per wk. Nov 13 completed Hilly Century ride for Cancer, 104 miles, 1st Place in my age group. Apr 2014 & 15, Spun for 9 straight hrs to raise $$ for YMCA's Livestrong Program. Certified Spin Instructor Jun 2014.
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