Portacath Users?

HI Twinstride

I know that my sister had 2 portacath's and she was so tiny, that they were really noticeable, and think she said one of them was the size of one that would be used for a 300 pound man! It was a great alternative to IV's because she had such small veins, that they would always roll and it was would soo difficult for the nurse to find her veins. So...hope that helps...:)

-Angela

Hiya Twinstride!

Yes she did, a couple times, and then eventually she had two, one on either side of her chest, just above her breasts. It was a really awkward place...one of them wasn't really noticeable, but the other one was, becaue it had to be replaced a couple times...

:)

-Angela

Aly.....thanks for the message: keep smiling. Always remind me of that!.

Have a great day! :)

I have a port just above my left nipple, and in my opinion, as useful as it is, it is one decision that I regret. I am 18 yrs. old, and was already very self consious to begin with, now I have this HUGE dome sticking out of my chest with an equally obvious tube coming from the top of it. I don't even like to take my shirt of to go swimming in public, EVERYONE asks the SAME question: "what is that?", followed immediately by "why do you have to get so many IVs?", and then comes the "what is CF" question, and finally the pity that I DESPISE. I just wish people would mind their own l)amned business and keep their curiosity to themselves, and their save their pity for someone who needs it. I know this is very superficial of me, but try to understand where I am coming from when I tell you that I am still a virgin, so imagine how apprehensive i am to take my shirt off in front of a girl for the first time (I can hear it now: "eww! what's that?!") I am currently giving VERY serious thought to getting this wretched thing removed. One of my major concerns when I was considering getting the port was if it would be noticable. I still remember what the doctor said: "it will be slightly noticable", he never told me i would have this massive tumor-like object sticking out of my chest.

It's not only the aesthetics that bother me. When I got it, I was under the impression it was a one-stick-when-needed sort of thing, and my doctor nor my family (of which several members were oncology patients and had ports) never bothered correcting me. It's not a one stick it's done thing, and the sticks hurt just as much now as they did before i had it (another misleading bit of info i was given). This wretched thing has to be stuck once a month, whether i need medicines or not, just to be flushed out, and even when i do need medicines, the needle has to be changed once a week. A PICC line didn't have to be changed every week, and it came out after i was done with my medicines, they also didn't leave some unsightly blemish to my body that made me embarassed to take my shirt off. Finally, a PICC line also allowed blood draws (as does the port), and also could be used for CT scan contrast injection fluid (you can't get that through your port, you have to get an IV for that even with the port). HOW IS THIS ANY BETTER THAN HAVING A PICC??! I wish I could punch the doctor that convinced me to get it with his misguiding information.

hi tyler.  I'm a 14 F with cf nd i have a port.  ive had mine for about 5 years now, and i'm really happy with it, although i c where ur coming from.  I would go to school in a blouse that just barely went under my collar bone and people would point and whisper and ak me what it was and why i had to have it and what cf was, all that junk.  After about a year, most of the people in my school had asked me what it was and knew.  as for the visibility, u can only see it when i wear a swimsuit or collar-bone length shirt.  My scar is about 1.5" long, now a pale pink.  the frst 3 or so years it was red and very noticeable, but i put that maderma or neosporin scar strips on it and it got lighter, so now it not as noticeable. As for the flushing, thats not such a pain for me.  My mother is a RN (reg'd nurse) and so we order my flush supplies (sharps box, huber needle, etc. ) our insurance pays for that too.  I would do my own flushes, except i cant see to stick myself.  i use a 3/4" needle, and i think its like a 20 gauge.  I do not use emla cream, as i think its just a pain in the butt, when the initial stick is so quick and not even painful anymore, its just not worth uing emla.  I had to get a port because I cant have picc s  ne more.  my veins roll and then when they do stick the vein, they cant feed the catheter!  and besides that, its so painful!  I also have a bad habit of getting flabitis in my arm where it gets so sore, and the vein basically gets burnt out, o i couldnt have a picc for more than 3 weeks. Overall, I have had a great experience with my port.  If you would like to talk, I have posted my IM addresses and my email.  just have a relative subject in the subj line so i dont post it as spam.