Your first treatment includes some "loading doses" that are larger thatn the standard doses you will get from then on. And they run everything slowwer the first time so that if there's a problem with anything they will catch it early and correct it. You will get a lot of attention from the nurses monitoring you, taking vitals and blood pressures frequently to be sure you're handling the medications properly. Take snacks and a sandwich for lunch, since it will be a long day, and take your phone with games or your kindle with books loaded onto it to pass the time. I always like to think of chemo day as a day I get to indulge in fun stuff and lounge in a comfy recliner, No dishes to wash, laundry to fold, or floors to sweep the whole time!! You'll make it through and the next time will be shorter! Hugs and prayers!!

Just get the port fitted asap and get the treatment started. A port is so much easier, you won’t realise it’s there once you get used to it. A port being fitted is the least of your worries, it’s painless. If you can, try to embrace every step of the treatment that comes to you, see it as your best friend fighting your battle for you. I know it’s scary and it’s the unknown but the port will make your journey so much easier for you and the treatment being administered. Big hug to you.

You will be glad for the port!!

I got a port put in and will have my next chemo session through it. My veins not the best so this was a decision I had to make. I’m a little apprehensive about it as don’t know how it will go, but I trust the team I have and the care nurse that has answered all my questions with complete honesty. It’s not the most pleasant thing to go through but hopefully will save so much anxiety. Sending love and hugs.

Hi Beverly! My diagnosis was HER2+ Stage 2a, Grade 3. The recommended protocol for me was 6 rounds of chemo (Taxotere, Herceptin, Carboplatin), 3 weeks apart, followed by the Herceptin infusions every three weeks for the remainder of a year. Just so you know, nurses have always had trouble finding a good vein with me.

I started without the port. The very first infusion left me with an aching stripe up the inside of my forearm. No evidence that the drug leaked, but it had burned the vein. Because of that, the next infusion had to be administered at a site lower on my arm than the first infusion. The second one also burned my vein, leaving another mark, so they lowered the infusion site again, another burn another mark. My fourth chemo was done in a tiny vein at the base of my thumb. The nurses kept wrapping my hand and arm in hot towels in an effort to keep the vein open. They had to do a gravity drip as pumping the drug might be too much for the vein. I asked the nurse if this would be less scary with the port, and she said yes, and went to get the nurse practitioner. He looked over the situation and agreed- the doctor came through and said to see him at the end of the session and he would write the orders for the port. When I got to his office he asked me- Remind me why we didn't do a port to start with? So, I told him, YOU said with only six chemos it would not be necessary! To which he replied- I wonder what I was thinking, you still have the Herceptin to finish! If steam could have come out my ears, I am sure it would have filled the room!

I got the port, and used it for all my lab work and follow-up infusions. I had started chemo Jan 3 of one year, and finished the end of Jan the following year. The stripe had faded, but looked like an old scar, and still occasionally ached.
All the marks are now gone, it hasn't ached in quite a while- but having done it both ways, I still get ticked (politely speaking!!) when I think all of that could have and should have been avoided!

That was my experience, you do you- just so you know, if you start without one, the decision can be revisited, but a year of infusions is a lot to ask of a vein.
Supporting whatever decision you make- Tight hugs!