Guest guest Posted March 18, 2004 Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 I also have encountered a wide variation in how willing people are to use my port. Ports in my mind are a god send, but the medical oncologists who use them so much also worry about port infections. If that happens, it can be rough, and the port has to be removed in most cases I believe. Therefore, many care facilities do not allow just anyone to access them. Because my veins are OK, even my oncologist's office for a time suggested drawing blood from a vein rather than accessing the port unless I was also getting chemo. On other occasions, I have been given regular IV fluids as well as TPN for weeks on end through mine. Before I knew better, I asked the nurse in CT if they could give me my IV contrast through my port. She said she was trained to use them and obliged me. I later found that ports are not typically designed to withstand the rapid injection of contrast that is typically used for CT evaluation of the liver. Although the nurse had accessed it carefully, making certain to scrub the area well, etc., the very rapid infusion could have ruptured my port! Kris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 18, 2004 Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 I also have encountered a wide variation in how willing people are to use my port. Ports in my mind are a god send, but the medical oncologists who use them so much also worry about port infections. If that happens, it can be rough, and the port has to be removed in most cases I believe. Therefore, many care facilities do not allow just anyone to access them. Because my veins are OK, even my oncologist's office for a time suggested drawing blood from a vein rather than accessing the port unless I was also getting chemo. On other occasions, I have been given regular IV fluids as well as TPN for weeks on end through mine. Before I knew better, I asked the nurse in CT if they could give me my IV contrast through my port. She said she was trained to use them and obliged me. I later found that ports are not typically designed to withstand the rapid injection of contrast that is typically used for CT evaluation of the liver. Although the nurse had accessed it carefully, making certain to scrub the area well, etc., the very rapid infusion could have ruptured my port! Kris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 18, 2004 Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 I also have encountered a wide variation in how willing people are to use my port. Ports in my mind are a god send, but the medical oncologists who use them so much also worry about port infections. If that happens, it can be rough, and the port has to be removed in most cases I believe. Therefore, many care facilities do not allow just anyone to access them. Because my veins are OK, even my oncologist's office for a time suggested drawing blood from a vein rather than accessing the port unless I was also getting chemo. On other occasions, I have been given regular IV fluids as well as TPN for weeks on end through mine. Before I knew better, I asked the nurse in CT if they could give me my IV contrast through my port. She said she was trained to use them and obliged me. I later found that ports are not typically designed to withstand the rapid injection of contrast that is typically used for CT evaluation of the liver. Although the nurse had accessed it carefully, making certain to scrub the area well, etc., the very rapid infusion could have ruptured my port! Kris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 28, 2004 Report Share Posted June 28, 2004 HI Sharon, I spent about a hour on google reading up on IMRT and can not pin point a maximum size for you. One suggestion, ask your Mom's Oncologist to call Radiology and ask them about size restraints. I will keep hunting and will let you know if I can find something. Joyce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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