Intraperitoneal Port Removal

By -
I'm having a quick surgery tomorrow morning to remove my IP Port.  My doctor will re-open the 2 inch incision she used to implant the port, clean up any scar tissue, remove the port, and close me back up.  The whole procedure should only take about 15 minutes. This 15 minute procedure will probably require 4-6 hours in the hospital for me and Greg.

Intraperitoneal implantable port 















I've added a photo of what my IP Port looks like, or at least what it looked like when they implanted it in December, who knows what it'll look like after it's been in my belly for 7 months!  On top of the silver piece is silicone.  That's where the needles were inserted and the drugs/fluids were pumped into my belly.  If you look closely, you can see the tube has little dots.  These are holes that allowed the chemo to be released throughout my whole belly cavity.  Think about a sprinkler hose for your yard!



So, this little piece and the tubing are currently implanted under the top layer of the skin on my abdomen.  The tubing is a little deeper into my peritoneal cavity.  To the best of my understanding, there are stitches holding the port in place and stitches holding part of the tube in place.  The rest of the tube is "loosey goosey" in my belly.  
All of this should be gone tomorrow and I'll have a new set of stitches and another scar to heal on my belly.  I may have to take a break from the gym and swimming pool for a few weeks to allow some time to heal.  Hopefully, we can get a break from this hot weather so I will be able to enjoy being outside without a swimming pool!

Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 2, 2016 at 11:12 PM

    Thanks so much Stephanie for posting this. This is exactly what I was looking for. Dr didn't have a photo of the IP port, and I wanted to see what it looks like. The photo of the hose was perfect, and helped me understand what was going on inside. Wishing you all of God's best, a full recovery, and no more disease! Teri E. Columbus, OH

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pathologies

By -
Image
Just a housekeeping update.  We received the pathology results back from my partial nephrectomy (removing a piece of my kidney) and they were exactly what my doctors expected.  The spot on my kidney was a malignant tumor.  Specifically, it was Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma. CCRCC is one of the most common types of kindey cancer.   This is exactly what my urologist was expecting, so no surprises for us.  He was able to get all of the tumor with clear margins so I was officially diagnosed and officially declared cured simultaneously. He will still continue to follow up with me and my CT scans that I get every six months through my gynecologist oncologist, although I statistically have little to no risk of developing kidney cancer again.  (But let be real, slim odds have kinda been my thing recently.  I told someone that I didn't win the billion dollar powerball because the odds weren't slim enough on this one) I met with my geneticist and she decided to run a full cancer panel
Read more

IV/IP Chemo Logistics

By -
Image
After months of waiting I was finally healthy enough to begin the chemotherapy regimen that my doctor recommended.  This regimen is known as IV/IP (intravenous/intraperitoneal).  The chemo drugs are delivered two ways, one through my veins in my IV port and one directly into my belly (aka - peritoneal cavity) through my IP port.  This regimen is on a 21 day cycle, and every 21 days the cycle is supposed to start over for four total rounds of treatment. On the first and second day of the cycle I am admitted to the hospital and stay over night to receive my medications.  To the best of my understanding, the only reason I am admitted to the hospital is because I receive a 24 hour continuous IV treatment of chemo called Taxol (which I received a lower dose of during "chemo lite").  An outpatient center would not be able to accommodate this treatment for the simple fact that it takes so long.  Once the IV treatment is over they switch to the IP treatment.  They load me up wi
Read more

HUGE Changes for the Virgin's

By -
I quit my job on December 31 to grow a business with Stephanie.   Sixteen months ago Stephanie and 1 were moving forward in our lives trying to start a family, grow careers, and take the next step in live together.  Things did not go as planned and the last 16 months have been a roller coaster of surgeries, treatments, and recovery.  I like to believe the events over the last year would cause any rational person to question their lives and whether they are on the right path.   When I asked Stephanie to marry me I would never have imagined that so soon in our marriage I would be acting on the “…in sickness…” vow.  A serious illness like cancer in your wife forces you to think about precious time and how limited it could be.  It is precious time that has motivated me to do something drastic.  To do something that will allow me to savor every precious moment I have with Stephanie.  We have decided to grow a Real Estate business together! This was not an easy decision to make.
Read more