Pin the tail on the cancer patient (my portacath is now in place)

Portacath bandage.

I had a minor operation under general anaesthetic today to install a portacath underneath the skin of my chest to make receiving IV drugs such as chemotherapy and giving blood a lot easier. The doctors and nurses will now just have to find the portacath hub and stab it with a special needle (a bit like pin the tail on the donkey) to get the all important drugs into my system.

An uninstalled portacath.

My veins from the chemo regime of FEC-T last summer are completely collapsed (see below), so even though I am a little dazed, confused and sore, the portacath is a welcome addition to my body. I now feel like a bionic woman. I’m almost excited to have my next chemo treatment just so I can try the device out!

Destroyed veins.

I would also like to point out that this is my third operation in 8 months and I am very proud of myself for going ALL BY MYSELF. I had a friend pick me up afterwards (thank you amazing Graham), but for the majority of the process I was alone, literally every other patient had someone with them and the middle aged lady next door to me was freaking out about getting pre-meds. This is amazing progress on my part as the first operation I had back in June I was a quivering wreck as it was the first time I had been under general anaesthetic. I had to be removed from the patient waiting area as my crying was unnerving the other patients. The second operation I had back in November I was accompanied by my mum and best friend, it was a little better than the first and I actually started to enjoy the feeling of being put under. Today was a revelation on my part, I shall never be scared of having a general anaesthetic ever again, I just put myself in some weird happy place in the hospital waiting room and willed the experience to be be over as quick and as painlessly as possible (which it was). Power of the mind and all that…