pain after port placement
Im starting chemo next week, and last wednesday "the port" was placed on the left side of my chest. Since it was placed, Ive been having some fairly bothersome left shoulder and neck pain (almost all the way from the port thru my upper back, and from the neck to the shuolder.) The placement site also hurts, mostly when I stand up, after being in the same position for a while. It feels like if it is pulling a muscle or something, Pain meds doesnt help... had anyone experience this pains after port placement. From what Ive read for most people it feels like it wasnt there. not my case, though. If you experience any kind of pain after port placement, what did you felt, what was done, for how long did it hurt, why is this happenning???
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I had very similar pain. My port is also on the left side. It took a long time for the surgical site to heal for me - (months). I had a lot of redness and swelling, had to do antibiotics for awhile. The achy
feeling, especially where I can feel the tube leading up towards my neck, lessened but has not gone away completely. I still have it intermittently 6 months later. It's tolerable but I told the onc that I want it out as soon as chemo is finished, no delays!
I hope your pain does not suggest you are getting infected, but keep a close watch on it, syd.
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I had mine placed during my BMX, but I do remember the area being tender, sore and achy. Even now 4 months later if I pull or turn the wrong way I'm reminded that it's still there - otherwise it has gotten much better and I hardly notice it.
If it's swollen, red or the pain in overwhelming I would check with the doctor.
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Hi Sid & Pill,
My "Port' was put in on the 15th of the month. (Right Side) My BC was iin my Left Breat.
MY WORST pain was getting up the morning after "Port Placement" I felt like a HAUL TRUCK hit me SMACK dab-a-doo in the middle of my chest and neck. When I went to get up I couldn't even move without assistance from my husband. I had him call in sick (for me) to work. It took till noon before I could muster enough strength to get up and go to work.
I STILL hurt in the same way as y'all as well. This weekend I over did it just a little much with the family reunion I had and OH MY GOSH!!!!! It really pained me after that. Here it is a week and a half later and I thought my "Port" would pop out of my chest. Sid, I had the same neck & back & shoulder pain. I feel like I have a severe stiff neck. Then I ache from just trying to hold my head just right. My back is killing me too. I don't believe that some feel nothing. I'm so glad my first chemo isn't untill this coming Wednesday, because the pain is still bad enough with the "Port" I am not ready for anything else to happen to me yet. I could not imagine what it would be like if I had to throw up while I'm having this pain still from the tube in my neck. Pill I sure hope I don't have or get any infections. I'm sooo scared of that. I had an infection from the drain site after my "Auxillary Dissection" surgery. It seems that after one thing heals, it makes time so that we all can go on to the next PAIN. BUT, we learn to dael with it.
(((((HUGS))))) to all
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I had this same type of pain. I think it was partially because of the port and partially because I started to "compensate" and move differently because I knew it was in there. And things tightened up. It eventually got better and now I hardly know it's there. I never thought I would say this either - it literally drove me crazy at the beginning. I hope it improves for you as well!
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Syd, Phil and Brenda - I had horrible pain with my port after it was put in. I couln't believe it. Had mine put in a week before my first chemo -- I thought i was going to do all kinds of fun things that week and forget it--it was awful. Until i saw this thread, I had never heard anything about this kind of pain with getting a port. The actual getting the port was easy--i went to the surgery center and was asleep when they put it in.
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Thank you all, guess the key here is time and patience, which, given the circumstances, its not at the highest point right now. Hope we all feel better soon!!!
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My port has been in for 5 weeks this Wed...and it still hurts and is not completely healed. It sits right up against my TE on the right side so I think that aggravates it. I am currently on antibiotics for a local wound infection at the incision...it just won't heal. My bil mx healed in 2 weeks...but this is taking forever. And yes, the day after placement...'take tylenol for mild discomfort'...was what the radiologist said...I wanted to go back and hit him with a hammer and mention 'mild discomfort'! I have full ROM of my r arm and such, and it feels better now that the antibiotics are working and the tenderness at the site is much less.....
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I had my port put in a year ago, and I did have the same pains at first. They dimished over time and now I just have it sometimes. Especially when I where a purse strap or something on that side. The discomfort I experience doesn't seem so bad when I watch others at the clinic who do not have a port and the nurses spend an hour trying to start an IV :< I feel so bad when I see that, because I just have a little stick and I am off to the races!!
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I just had my port in a week ago today -- I felt immediate shoulder and chest pain on the left side and asked the surgeon. She said they put a block of foam under the left shoulder to elevate it and position it for better insertion --- so I realized that the pain was largely, for me, musculoskeletal from the ackward positioning. I stretched it GENTLY out and got a light massage from a friend. I found ice helped the first 24 hrs and then heat. It is still bruised and somewhat sore to touch. I've been given a numbing cream to apply 90 mins before my first chemo and use of the port tomorrow morning. It is still very bruised. I found my shoulder belt bothered it in the car --- so my friend took thick, soft fleece and covered my seatbelt to protect my site. Hope this helps!
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Dear syd
Mine still hurts five months later - it goes into my jugular vein and I cannot lay on that side, especially if my head drops - the pain wakes me up. In the early days I had the pain you do - now it hurts a lot of the time but not as bad or as wide an area. I have nerve damage from my mast on the other side and for that I used the soft ice packs, cooled in the fridge, not in the freezer. i have also used them from the day of my port placement over the port and also have and old soft satin pillowcase that I fold and tuck under my bra strap when I have to go out. The colling of the "cool packs' and the soothing feel of the satin on my port are amazing, I have used cool packs or all sorts of nerve pain since 1991. Ice is too much for me, and I think damages the skin, but cool packs and satin on the affected area have helped desensitize the area. When I stop using them it flares up. Good luck
Linda
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The first two weeks after my port was inserted was horrible! I could NOT sleep. But, after about the second week, it was MUCH better. The pain from this procedure was worse for me than the lumpectomy and axillary node dissection, but like I said, after about two weeks, it was much better. My port has been in for 16 months and now I rarely notice it at all. Maybe one day a month it will feel a little weird or I will notice it for some reason, but usually not. I am not currently having infusions. When I had my second diagnosis in June, they switched me from infusions to oral chemo three times a day, so my port is not being used right now. I will be having a mastectomy in a few weeks, but I am leaving my port in just in case at some point, I go back on infusion chemo. If that were to be necessary, I do NOT want to go through the port surgery recovery pain again. The only thing I have to do while it is not being used is to have it flushed every 4-6 weeks. That is no big deal. I simply have the nurse do it when I go to my oncologist for check-ups.
Hang in there. It will feel better soon.
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Hey girls. have any of you, in addition to the already established pain, felt headaches (every day that wont go away) and a preassure like sensation at the jugular areas, since you port placement. Is that what you felt Linda?? Because since my port placemene Ive been suffering from those symptoms. I have checked my blood preassure and it is ok. Although my port area hurts a lot less, the headaches are not going away.
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I HAD MY PORT PLACED ON TUESDAY AND FEEL LIKE MY SHOULDERS WERE RAN OVER BY TRUCKS. I FIGURED SINCE THIS IS THE THIRD @SURGERY IN FIVE MOMTHS THAT MY BODY IS JUST TRYING TO RECOUP. WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK. I HATE TO BE LAID UP BUT I MAU HAVE TO LISTEN TO MY BODY. I START CHEMO SOON AND I WANT TO BE STRONG FOR THAT.
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Blayze7, i had terrible pain after port placement. it was as if i had been run over by a truck and it was impossible to get out of bed without terrible pain. Looking back, I should have been on pain meds but i guess most people sail through the surgery. Not me. It settled down after about a week or 10 days. Call your doc and ask for pain meds.
Let us know who you are doing.
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I HATE MT PORT. Have from the day it was put in. The only time I like it is when I get a treatment. It still hurts me and it has been almost 6 wks. I cannot sleep on that side and whenever I Move my right arm I feel it. It feels like it is coming out of my skin. ERRR! Oh Well only 6 more tx and then i will have it taken out.
Maggie
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Blayze7, how is your pain level with your port?0
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Do different "brands" of ports cause more discomfort than others? I had a Bard Power Port placed almost a week ago and although the site is quite bruised, it doesn't seem too bad. I start chemo on 11/1. Caryn
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I am experiencing some of the symptoms many of you ladies described (impaired mobility and soreness of the neck and shoulder area), and also something else:
Every time I swallow it REALLY hurts, not to mention coughing. It almost feels like my esophagus is connected to the port; it's like saliva, food, water or whatever else I swallow, is going directly into my vein.I didn't read anyone else describing this kind of feeling/sensation, and am wondering if maybe something is wrong with the way my port has been placed maybe? Pain meds also don't seem to help, which is odd, because I hardly ever take medicine, and so the rather strong pain meds they sent me home with from the hospital should have really numbed me. - Thoughts anyone?
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Sleepless,
When did you have this done? I ask because coughing was one of the few symptoms I had of a collapsed lung (my post insertion x-ray was fine!). Pain, however, is a common symptom of a collapsed lung. Please call your doc, ASAP. I don't mean to panic you but if it's nothing, great. If it is a pneumothorax, which is a rare but possible complication of port placement, it requires immediate attention. I walked around with a slowly collapsing lung for 2 weeks ( complete anomaly ) and the resulting trip to the ER and hospitalization was no fun. Best wishes for it to be nothing!
Caryn0 -
Hi Caryn!
Thank you for your reply. I will definitely keep it in mind.
I had the port placed today, Thankfully, I am not coughing frequently. I did cough twice though this evening (when my son made me laugh, and when I tried to eat soup and it "went down the wrong hole) and it HURT. I have scheduled pre-chemo appt. with my oncologist in 2 days, but if this doesn't get better by then, I will go in before then. - Thanks again, and best wishes to you!
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Today! Then I am sorry if I have worried you needlessly. It is probably nothing but good that you are monitoring it. Take good care.
Caryn0 -
My port site was a mess -- red, swollen bruised for several weeks. I started chemo 5 days after getting the port. It did heal after about a month and you can barely see it. I was terrified that I was rejecting it or that they'd have to remove it and start over, alas, not so.
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I had a Vital-Port put in on the left side today (about 11hrs ago). The interventional radiologist did warn me that there are more problems with ports on the left side eg: kinking and twisting and blockages. This is because the tube line has to bend more to get into the jugular from there.
They left it accessed because I start chemo tomorrow. The weird thing is that the actual port wound area doesn't hurt at all, but the smaller incision over my clavicle hurts like anything!
I just had the twilight med and extra local because I refused the fentanyl and morphine they would normally use. The twilight med really didn't work at all much and I had a lovely conversation with the radiologist about some research projects he's working on while he was pushing this thing into me :-)
So far I seem to have full movement of everything with no tugging feelings in any direction. I drew lines on each side of my bra strap before I went and asked that it not be placed there - he was happy with that and how organised I was. I've been told I can still go for walks, just no power walking or jogging until it's healed in. Stitches have to come out in 10 days.
Will try and pop in here again in a few days to update on how it is...
regards Jennt280 -
Thank you, ladies. - My port is on the right side, right next to where the bra strep goes (if and when I wear a bra) ;-) Jenn, I wish I had read your post earlier, I would have told my surgeon the same (in terms of drawing your bra strap - great idea!).
The original discomfort I had when the port was first placed (swallowing was painful/weird), went away for the most part yesterday after I had it utilized for a blood draw and then my first chemo.
Yesterday the port felt ok, but probably because it was numbed. Today the entire area stings A LOT, it also looks like it portrudes more than it originally did. Yet, there is no discoloration, ooze or any kind of infection. Just burning. I took a walk earlier and had to walk rather slowly, because of the port.... Grrrr. Hoping this is just temporary. Jennt28, wishing you a speedy recovery and healing and best wishes for your upcoming treatments,
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Update!
The port was good for the first chemo on Thursday. Then on Friday afternoon it was soooo comfortable I forgot it was there and reached behind me to put something on a table and all pain let loose! OMG that hurt for at least 2 mins.
Ended up back at emergency on Saturday morning where they xrayed it and determined evrything still in place and re-accessed and locked it again to see that it worked.
However it is now SO uncomfortable although I think a little better today and hopefully will continue to improve.
So my advice is don't get too comfortable and do something stupid like me...
Jennt280 -
My port placement and the two weeks after hurt more than my Mastectomy! It was placed on my right side with my remaining 42DD breast. Every time I walked it pulled the port area up and down. I had to hold my breast to my chest with my hand. It was horribly painful. I had to go back on strong pain meds to stand it. Thankfully, after 2 weeks it healed and has been no problem ever since.
My Onocology nurse said some people have no pain and others have alot of pain.
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This is the reason I still have my port! I had such a horrible recovery after my port insertion surgery in 6/09. My lumpectomy and mastectomy were nothing compared to that! It was several weeks before I could actually sleep as the port site hurt so much. Now, I don't even think about it and it doesn't bother me at all.
I haven't had infused chemo since 11/08 but still have not had my port out. Since I have now had BC twice with the second time being IBC which often recurs, I opted to keep my port in case it was needed again. Now that I have been NED for 2-1/2 years, I'm finally starting to think about maybe having it removed sometime maybe this summer when school is out. (I'm a teacher.) Keeping it in hasn't been a problem. I have to go for bloodwork every couple of months, so I just use the port for the blood draw and then have them flush it at the same time.
(One time I was glad I still had my port was when I had my mx in 2/10. The tried like 7 or 8 times to get an IV in and couldn't. My surgeon finally just told them to take me in to surgery and she would put the IV in my port.)
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I had my port put in this morning and I have pain in my neck area. Like around my collarbone. It's on the left side. It hurts to swallow or cough or turn my head. It's more bothersome then the actual port sight. Please someone tell me it is just from the tube going in and it goes away fast. It hurts more then my mastomecty! This is crazy.
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Mama, call your surgeon as soon as possible. It may be nothing but from what you are describing you want it checked right away. Call even though its the weekend.
Thinking of you.
Liz
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I've had my port since Oct. 2014. It's been nothing but pain and bother. It hurts when it is accessed--not just the poke, but actually just having something touch it. I have pain from the ear, down my neck, down to the port and my shoulder. I can't lay on the side of the port. It hurts if fabric rubs on it, if it gets bumped. Early on, the pain at the incision sites got absolutely unbearable. They took me back to surgery and found that the stitches they gave me didn't dissolve and they were poking holes in my skin as they tried to push through to the surface. They were able to fix the ones that were by my clavicle, but I have had to endure the ones in my chest, so they poke me from the inside on a constant basis. I am stuck with it until October. I will most likely never allow one to be placed in the future, unless it is in my arm--which I have since learned is possible.
So sorry for what you are going through. I hope you are able to have answers and solutions that are better than mine. Take care.
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