Some of you who read this blog closely may recall the "port-no-port'' debate of a few weeks ago, when I was trying to decide whether to have a device inserted into my chest to make it easier to get a chemo and other needles into me.
The problem was that the nurses were having increased trouble finding veins that hadn't collapsed to use for my infusions. Seems that veins start to resist when you poke into them on a regular basis. Once in December, it took the most skilled nurse in the chemo center six attempts - each more painful than the one before - to get a good connection.
But my two oncologists (one here and the other in Boston) offered conflicting advice: guy in Boston said do it, but the guy here said no - there is always the risk of infections or other complications.
So I decided to try to use other techniques to build up the veins - mainly drinking lots of water and squeezing a hand exerciser to increase blood flow. Those ideas seem to have worked. Today I had the third and last in this series of infusions with no problem in finding a vein. (My 15th treatment overall, but who's counting?).
I don't think I had used the hand squeezers (don't know what you really call them - it's two handles with a spring in the middle to provide resistance) since I first developed tennis elbow when I was about 30 - I've been falling apart for a very long time!
But if only other physical problems could be so easily resolved. No chemo now for two weeks. Seems like a long vacation.
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