Re: Catheters

[Guest guest]

My porta-cath was in my neck. They said it could only

be there 7-10 days. I can't believe you had one in

for 6 months!

They were able to draw blood for glucose testing out

of it. Instead of my morning finger-stick, they would

draw blood for other things and just use a drop of it

on a strip to do that test as well.

If you could have seen how purple my arms were, I

fought tooth and nail I didn't want the cath, but it

did save me many " sticks " . They also did the

pacemaker operation completely using the portacath.

> I only had the Porta-Cath for about 6 months, only

> when I was on chemo. It

> was supposed to have been placed under the skin

> close to my neck. The

> surgeon had a problem with that area, so it was

> placed in my breast. I had

> no problem with it, but I was always afraid that I

> would do something to

> dislodge it. If I had to do it again though, this

> is the way I would go. I

> know there are other catheters available, but I

> believe you have to flush

> them every day. I don't know how long you can keep

> a catheter. There are

> people that have had them much longer than I did.

>

> I don't know if you can draw blood for glucose

> testing or not. Probably not,

> but I may be wrong. You need to discuss this with

> your doctor.

>

> Hope this information helps. If you have other

> questions, let me know.

>

> Eunice

>

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