the best laid plans

The good news is, I have a new port and it works.The bad news is that I found it a much harder experience than I had anticipated.And there's some other stuff that's kind of in between good and bad news. I haven't decided yet.My friend Lise picked me up early on Tuesday morning and we arrived in plenty of time for my 8am appointment. I really, really liked the nurse doing intake (and I told her so when I left) and Lise stayed with me for as long as she was permitted.That part was just fine. I didn't even mind too much when the nurse had a hard time accessing a vein for my IV - I was in for a new port precisely because my veins are hard to access.Tasha, the nurse, told me that I had ruined her "one poke record." I reassured her that she shouldn't blame herself and that it shouldn't even count because "I'm special. How many people go through years of chemotherapy and actually live to tell the tale?" She liked that and agree that I am pretty special.I spoke with Tasha about my expectations about my port surgery, "In. Out. All on the left side" and she confirmed that was what was written on my chart.Unfortunately, the surgeon had other ideas. He came to see me with the consent form, as I lay in a hospital bed, in the hallway, already hooked up to IV. I was all by myself. I can't remember his exact words but he told me in graphic that he would have to "rip through" scar tissue to put a replacement port on the left side. He said that the possibility of infection was much, much ...
Source: Not just about cancer - Category: Cancer Tags: breast cancer health care my friends show and tell surgery grief fear cancer blog radiation Source Type: blogs