Port Placement and Bone Marrow Biopsy.

Yesterday, I had my portacath put in as well as having two bone marrow biopsies done. From what I've heard, bone marrow biopsies are pretty painful so I was not looking forward to that proceedure. Luckily, the doctors decided to do the bone marrow biopsy at the same time time as my port placement surgery... So, long story short - I slept through the whole thing. But, I'm pretty sore today.

Although I was asleep during both proceedures, they explained to me before hand how the whole process was going to work. They started with the bone marrow biopsies. To do the biopsies, they used a large needle that went in through my lower back and into my pelvic bone to remove some bone marrow. They did this process twice, once on the left side and once on the right side. After they finished up with the bone marrow biopsies, they began working on putting in the portacath.

[The picture below is what a portacath looks like]

For the portacath (aka "port placement') surgery, they made a small incision just below my collar bone. The "stringy" end of the portacath is what they put into the artery, and the larger round part is under my skin but near the surface so the nurses can find it easily. The top of the rounded part is made of a rubbery "self healing" material, so each time a needle goes in it will "heal" itself so there isn't a hole left behind. The port can also be used to draw blood. So it works both as a way of putting medicine into my body, as well as a way of drawing blood out when that is needed.

The reason they use a portacath rather than just putting an IV into my arm is because the smaller veins in the hands and arms can scar easily from the chemo, whereas the larger arteries near the heart can handle having chemo put directly into them without being damaged.

Also, before I went into surgery, my oncologist talked to me and said that he thinks my cancer may actually be Stage 4. Here is how they classify the different stages:
         
Stage 1 - When there is one cluster of cancerous lymph nodes on one side of the diaphragm.
Stage 2 - When there are two clusters of cancerous lymph nodes, both on the same side of the diaphragm
Stage 3 - When there are two or more clusters of cancerous lymph nodes but they are on different sides of the diaphragm
Stage 4 - When the cancer has made its way into the organs and/or bones

My doctor said it looks like the cancer is in my spleen and possibly in my bones as well and it looked like it could be "borderline" Stage 4. Even with my cancer being a possible Stage 4, the doctor said my treatment will stay at 6 cycles of chemo and hopefully no radiation. The outlook is still VERY good and my doctor continues to tell me that I have nothing to worry about. So, until he tells me I have something to worry about, I'm not going to worry. Thanks again to everyone praying for me! I appreciate it.