When a radiology surgeon says the scar looks good, take a second look

Got some stuff to catch up on. As you can see from the date of the post, it's almost a month since I found out I have cancer. I thought about doing a blog, but never got around to it. So here I am.

Although the oncologist said I had great veins and didn't need to get a port, I decided to get one anyway. Just one less thing to worry about. And I would have had to access my veins 36 times for the chemo and for weekly blood draws. A port is a catheter (long, hollow plastic tube) connected to a plastic and metal reservoir.  When the catheter was placed in my chest, the catheter tip will be in a large vein in the chest, with the tip just above the heart. The net result is a large bump under the skin.




A week after the port is placed, the surgeon checks it to make sure it is safe to use. When a radiology surgeon says the scar looks good, don't believe her. Surgeons care about medical aspects, not aesthetic ones. The scar is bumpy, irregular, and ugly. So much for truth in advertising.