DISAPPOINTING DAY
Today was supposed to be a mini celebration for me. I was scheduled to have my final AC chemo treatment today. The last of the bad stuff that causes me so many side effects. However, after 5 hours, I left without receiving the chemo. My port was not cooperating. They tried everything and had me in all kinds of positions to see if the the tubing was possibly in a kink. I was thankful that I did not have to stand on my head! They considered the fact that I could have a clot in or around the port. They administered an anticoagulant through my port to break up any potential blood clots and tried multiple times every 20 minutes to try to get blood return. They were unable to do so. The nursing supervisor eventually came over and tried to get my port to work and was unable to get good result either. My nurse, Ernie, eventually had to go upstairs and speak to Dr. Riley. She sent him back down to see if they could find a peripheral vein in my arms to get an IV started so they could see if they could administer the chemo through a regular vein. I have always had trouble with my veins when it comes to getting an IV started, so I was not surprised when I was told that I did not have a good vein to try. They said that even if they were able to get an IV started that it was too dangerous to attempt to push the Adriamyacin through because of the risk of my vein collapsing. This would result in something very very bad and would require surgery to repair to the damage.
So…They believe that there may be a problem with my port. In addition to the problems today, there were difficulties last time also. I will be going to University of Louisville hospital on Monday for a dye test to see if there is any type of blockage. If there is some minor issue they may be able to fix it at that time and then I can go next door to Brown Cancer Center and have my chemo administered on Monday afternoon. That is the best case scenario. Worst case scenario is that there is a problem with my port and I will require surgery to have the port removed and an new one inserted.
Staying positive that the issue with my port is a small one and that it will be fixed on Monday morning and I will be able to have my last “bad” chemo administered Monday afternoon! I will be doing a happy dance!!!
debbiepinkstrong 