Hi Daxwell—
I wish you all the best on your new journey. I've had a port now for 3 wks almost and posted about
it here:
www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=30&m=3233665 I would do two things before you start—
1. Find out which needle size the hospital is installing — I'm 5'3 and pretty small but they put a 19 gauge needle in me. The nursing staff had never seen anything that big before and don't stock it. I think it caused a lot of problems because it was too large and I had to continue to double-check with the nurse staff (there's a different nurse each visit) that they were downsizing it rather than just following what the hospital did based on paperwork.
2. Determine before the procedure exactly which port is being installed and what the mechanics of it are afterwards and how your daily life will be affected. I had some trouble getting the hospital nurse and the nursing service to communicate and even when they did (the day before the surgery), they still didn't know what was actually going to be installed and couldn't answer my questions.
I was not aware that I would have a needle and tube sticking out of my port for the duration of my treatment (12 months or so) covered by a latex bandage thing, therefore I could not ever shower (they told me, after the fact). Well, they told me I could cover it up with "press and seal" plastic and waterproof tape but clearly they had never actually done it and water got everywhere. Baths are fine but I couldn't (still can't) figure out how to wash my hair and I was not prepared for that complication (I don't have the strength to do it in the sink and had trouble lifting my arm on the port side over my head).
In the end, we determined they would teach me how to remove the needle and tube at the end of my 5-day week of treatment and they would come and reinstall it on day 1 of the new week so I can now shower on day 5,6 and 7 and 1. Also, another poster here clued me in on cleansing clothes:
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000532VC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1and waterproof bandaging:
www.amazon.com/AquaGuard-PICC-Cover-Moisture-Barrier/dp/B00J9I15WG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416261140&sr=8-1&keywords=aquaguardOtherwise, the injections are a breeze.
-p