Travel, Swim, Breathe. : Port Flushin

I have had a port in my chest since I was 19 years old. I have had 2 ports total. My first one came out the day my new one went in. I remember that I got my newest during the campaigns for the 2008 elections. I remember very specifically cleaning my incision with the TV on and McCain announcing that Sarah Palin would be his running mate. So I have had my current port for 8 years.

What is a port some of you may ask? A port is short for a por-a-cath implant. It is a small tunneled central venus access device. This means it is "easy access" into my blood stream for any infusion I may need. I have horribly small veins in my arms and early on I had to get a port to be able to administer the IV therapy I had to do frequently with my CF lungs. Many transplant patients are not allowed to keep their ports anymore because of the potential risk of infection or blood clots. I am not sure how I have gotten away with it but my docs have let me keep mine, which i am eternally grateful. I need it every 3 months for an infusion I get for my bones. I cannot tolerate the oral drugs they have now a days for osteoperosis so i must get this infusion which eases my suffering of flu like symptoms when i take the other medications, so I don't mind at all. Anyways, I have been a very compliant patient taking very good care of my port and (knock on wood) have had no problems so far.

For maitneance of the port you must flush it with saline and heparin to keep it from clotting. I have done this at home for about 13 years. Early on Casey learned how to flush my port so I did not have to go in to the hospital every month to get my port flushed. My first port was so deep in my chest there was no way I could have gotten the leverage to poke myself. It took a 1 1/4inch needled to get in. I was vain and wanted the port in my breast tissue. It was great by vanity stand point, but difficult to maintain. When I got my second port the doc suggested to have it further up my chest. I obliged and now you can see my port a bit, especially since I have gotten much thinner in the past couple years. So now you can see it well and it is easy for me to try to access it myself. But until yesterday I had never tried before.

I have been thinking about doing this myself for a few months - before I even concieved the idea to travel to Australia by myself. But now, since I am going away for 3 months I need to be able to flush the port on my own. It was a great push to do it myself. So yesterday I stood up to the challenge and got it done! I was so proud of myself that I finally did it. I was worried i would sit there shaking for a couple minutes before attempting, but I was strong and solid - except for my normal shakes I have from the drugs I take.

The one thing I did learn is i need to make sure I have sterile gloves that FIT me. It would be much easier with those.... HA! Here are some pics from the process -