Today I had surgery to have a port put into my chest.
This is where all the chemo goes in, and blood can be drawn for tests. Apparently lots of tests happen during chemo.
So no more needle sticks, no more chances of blown veins.
I must admit I had no idea it was such a complicated procedure.
To reduce stress, I don't peer too far into future appointments, so waited till last nght to read about ports.
"Twilight anesthesia" they said.
As usual no food or "clear liquid" 12 hours before the procedure. Other sources say 6-8 hours.
Then they said it was ok to take my morning BP pill "with a small sip of water"
Damn pill is not small...I gulped water.
As far as I was concerned, it was a pretty dark twilight, cause I went out for the count, woke an hour later, they gave me enough morphine so I could be plopped into the car and driven home.
Then the morphine wore off. Yikes! Luckily, my doc is real good at pain management, none of the skimping on opioids, and I had a script, so pain pills went home with me, and I napped for a few hours, waking only when a loud and heavy thunderstorm hit.
So now, I have a rather sore and stiff left arm/side from the mastectomy last month, and a very painful upper right chest and shoulder from today's port surgery, and not allowed to really do much wtth right hand/arm for the next 3 days, just in tme for the CAT scan Thursday when BOTH arms will be raised above my head, supposedly.
Yeah...good luck with that....I feel like a T. Rex.....those arms have very limited range of motion right now.
Just when I thought life was getting placid and predictable.........
= new reply since forum marked as read
and placid. 
Didn't get a port. Should have, according to all my chemo nurses. Veins grew smaller and smaller each week - for them. Blood woman got it each and every time with just one stick.
Keep your humor - you'll need it, and it really is a life-saver.
Hang in there, I can only say this as a caregiver, do whatever you need to do to come out the other side. Be curious, but not too curious, put on movie, go to movie, take a walk, distractions are wonderful. Look when you feel you can during tests, look away when you cannot. We met a 23 year old refugee from Kosovo who had a haplo/double cord transplant and is now looking forward to a wedding next year, we'll all be celebrating.
Easy for me to say, just a bystander here, have not asked her if she still has her port, but I know she dreaded the bone marrow biopsies.
Use whatever you can to move forward! 
it has been good to have.
I have really thready veins, IVs blow out, PICC lines don't last etc ...
My hematologist/oncologist recommended a medi-port and I'm so glad she did.
I don't use/need have never been offered a numbing cream.
At present my port is accessed 24/7. I'm on TPN therapy (total parenteral nutrition) 12 hours a day. It was 18 hours but they just reduced it
Anyway, my nurse comes on Mondays and removes the access needle, cleans the site and re-accesses the port. He puts a new clean dressing on and I'm good to go.
The ONLY hassle is protecting it in the shower "it" being the dressing. When the port isn't accessed there's nothing visible but a bump in my chest.
I have a product called Hydra-Seal. It's a clear plastic 7" x 7" piece that adheres to the area and keeps the dressing dry.
edited to add: I have all my blood draws done via the port. WAY better than having the nurses poke and pain me looking for a vein that won't give up any blood.
My port is placed to stay there permanently.
best wishes to you.
aA
kesha
This is what mine looks like accessed and not accessed. The dressing/protections sometimes gets itchy but for the most part it's not a problem.
I wear a sports bra when I'm accessed because bra straps 
I just took off the clear tape/dressing, and it has actually taken the top layer of my skin off in 2 places....hurts like hell. THAT was the hurting I was feeling most of the past 2 days. So no more of that on my skin.
So what I am looking at is a raised lump where the port is, but since everything is UNDER the skin, how the hell do they get a needle in there without sticking me?
I thought the whole point of the port was " no more needle sticks", unquote.
I thought the port would be one of those tube things that had maybe a plastic tip opening that they could stick the needle in ....in fact, the CAT scan guy said tht is why I have to go to oncology to morrow first, so they can put something in/on the port so HE can inject the iodine thru it..
Something about a needle "thing" that they use to put stuff into the body
and then he said I had to go back to oncology to have it removed.
Now, I know they can't do anything that would let air into the port, but in my perhaps pain medicine fueled mind, I seem to have gotten the idea the port meant
no more needle sticks.
Oh, I know where I got the idea.....somone there TOLD me that.
As for the plastic dressing, it was burning up my skin for the past 3 days, the removal part was easy and did not cause the problem.
I am gonna take my prescribed pain med, whatever it is, and ask them for that cream plus pick some up at the druggist on the way home.
thanks for telling me about that.
Right now, at the moment, I am not in a good mood, so will put on a movie or something.
I can't even run away from home, there is a thunderstorm outside.
I did have the port used, the needle was a teeny pinch, even on my then very sore port area.
It is Sept. 3 and the area feels ever so mildly tender, nothing I can't ignore now.
Thank you so much for all of your information and advice, it was so helpful. 
Had cancer, 3 surgeries ....a long time ago (more than 5 years)...still here...don't ask me why,..............
I am just going to say hi
.
It IS very helpful to hear from people who have gone thru successful treatment, I appreciate your comments very much.