This Friday I am going into surgery in order to get a port placed. A port is essentially a catheter that is placed under the skin that allows the person to have access to a bloodline so that they can give injections easier without killing veins via shots in the arm. They often put these in the chest, but sometimes in the arm as well. For this one, it will be put into my chest on my righ side which is good. Though I believe they have gotten smaller, they can often leave a bulge under your skin so it is nice to be able to cover that up (not to mention the scars from the sticks to access it).
This is not my first port, I had 2 or 3 previously. My last one was in for about ten years before it got worn out and infected. I think for this upcoming MY plan is going to be to try accessing it less than previously. I still intend to access it every week like I had, but previously I had left the needle in for 2 or 3 days before I took it out. On this upcoming port I’m hoping to access it once a week and then take it out right away in order to try to prevent infection from occurring again.
Though the placement should be a rather simple procedure they are going to keep me in the hospital over night to make sure everything is going ok. Which is fine, I think they are doing it solely because I complained that they wanted to shoe me out the door right away after taking my port out 2 years ago. Though there was a slight difference there in that I needed to get infusions every 8 hours for the first day or two and I can’t give myself a shot so that just seemed retarded to me to ask me to come into the hospital that often. Still, it is nice to be there to make sure everything has gone ok, and I actually kind of enjoy staying in the hospital as it offers me a respite from my normal life, and at least at my hospital, the food isn’t nearly as bad as the stereotype says.