I had my portacath (port), henceforth ‘Toby the Tap’, ‘Toby’ or ‘Tap’, installed yesterday. Toby is a Bard Power Port (approx. $60USD+install). Installation is a short procedure, about 30 minutes, using local anesthetic and conscious sedation. Two incisions are made, one in the chest for the reservoir and another in the neck where the catheter bends toward the heart. The reservoir is about the size of a quarter, the catheter about the diameter of a cooked spaghetti noodle.
Often people do not remember when coming out of conscious sedation. This was my third time being sedated and the second of the three that I remember what happened. Unfortunately there wasn’t much to remember as my face was covered with a sheet. I asked Doc to allow me to watch but apparently that is a no-go which was extremely disappointing. So I lay there for thirty or so minutes staring at a blue sheet listening to Doc give instructions and answer questions (sounded like he was teaching someone). The procedure was mostly painless save for when the catheter was being pushed into my chest, as lot of pressure was put on my neck on the side with severe lymphadenopathy (inflammation of the lymph nodes), which was fairly painful. Once the Lidocaine wore off, a couple hours after the procedure, the upper incision was moderately painful; however, a bit of opium took care of that (technically Percocet but opium sounds cooler).
Tomorrow I have an appointment with Doc Restrepo and a nurse with experience administering SGN-35. I will decide then whether or not I am going to join the trial. I am pretty sure I know which way I will go, but if I spill the beans now I’ll have nothing to write about tomorrow. ;)
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