Hello again everyone!
Don't necessarily know that I'm looking for specific info or advice, more of just a venting of my anxieties! But if you have any advice/info/support I'd love to hear it!
I had my monthly port flush last week and we could tell something was awry. Flushed slower and with more resistance and I could feel pressure/coolness in my chest. So I had a catheter-gram (dye test) on Friday which so the catheter has come loose from the port and the saline/dye was just leaking directly into my chest. Ugh. They said it needs to come out right away due to the fact that the catheter is nearly broken off completely and could become free standing in my bloodstream if it becomes unattached entirely.
Anyway, I think I have posted on here before about my daughter's refusal to take a bottle. Well she is almost 8 month old and still refuses. She absolutely will not suck on anything that is not my breast! We've tried many different types of bottles and sippy cups. We sometimes give her sips of water out of a bottle or a cup and she will drink that way somewhat. So the dye test was a little stressful to begin with. The radiology dept. told me to pump and dump for 24 hours. My breastfeeding medicine specialist told me that was not necessary at all, and I could feed her as soon as the procedure was over, so that was what I did.
So for the port removal they are going to use twilight anesthesia (or conscious sedation). The breastfeeding medicine specialist said that as soon as I am awake enough from the procedure it is safe to breastfeed! Yikes, makes me a little nervous but I do trust her. However, I still wish so badly Maya would take a bottle because I'd rather err on the side of caution and pump and dump- but I don't want to add the extra stress of having her irate/stressed when I am recovering from the procedure, especially since the doctor says it's safe to bf. So my plan is to breastfeed her in the pre-op area right before they administer the anesthesia. She usually goes 3-4 hours between feedings so she should be good to go until I feel good enough to feed her. My mom is coming along and is going to feed her some baby food and water while I'm having the procedure/recovering to try to make sure she's ok until I'm ready to feed her. Ugh.
My other big concern is how sore I will be after. I was super sore after the thing was placed, but I'm assuming/hoping I won't be nearly as sore just having it removed. However, it is stitched down so I'm sure there will be some level of pain with it. It is on my left side which is where Maya always lays her head and is the side I hold her on. I'm struggling with perhaps not being able to pick her up or let her lay her head on my chest for a few days. It will be really hard. Ugh.
Anyway, sorry for lengthy post. Guess I'm just feeling more nervous about this than I initially thought I was. Hopefully everything goes to plan with the breastfeeding and I'm not too sore afterward!
Thanks to anyone who made it to the end of this post! I would also welcome any info from people who have had a port removed and what it was like (pain level, length of procedure, etc.). I'm not having a new one put it at this point. I've only used this one twice since it was put in 3 1/2 years ago. So I'm going to go without for a while and then eventually have a new one put in on my right side. I know that may sound a little crazy but I don't want Maya having to dig her head into/lay on it for the next however many years. Plus the docs now say they would actually prefer to have it on my right side. So that will be a procedure for another day.
Ok I'm really done now! Thanks again everyone.
Autumn
Don't necessarily know that I'm looking for specific info or advice, more of just a venting of my anxieties! But if you have any advice/info/support I'd love to hear it!
I had my monthly port flush last week and we could tell something was awry. Flushed slower and with more resistance and I could feel pressure/coolness in my chest. So I had a catheter-gram (dye test) on Friday which so the catheter has come loose from the port and the saline/dye was just leaking directly into my chest. Ugh. They said it needs to come out right away due to the fact that the catheter is nearly broken off completely and could become free standing in my bloodstream if it becomes unattached entirely.
Anyway, I think I have posted on here before about my daughter's refusal to take a bottle. Well she is almost 8 month old and still refuses. She absolutely will not suck on anything that is not my breast! We've tried many different types of bottles and sippy cups. We sometimes give her sips of water out of a bottle or a cup and she will drink that way somewhat. So the dye test was a little stressful to begin with. The radiology dept. told me to pump and dump for 24 hours. My breastfeeding medicine specialist told me that was not necessary at all, and I could feed her as soon as the procedure was over, so that was what I did.
So for the port removal they are going to use twilight anesthesia (or conscious sedation). The breastfeeding medicine specialist said that as soon as I am awake enough from the procedure it is safe to breastfeed! Yikes, makes me a little nervous but I do trust her. However, I still wish so badly Maya would take a bottle because I'd rather err on the side of caution and pump and dump- but I don't want to add the extra stress of having her irate/stressed when I am recovering from the procedure, especially since the doctor says it's safe to bf. So my plan is to breastfeed her in the pre-op area right before they administer the anesthesia. She usually goes 3-4 hours between feedings so she should be good to go until I feel good enough to feed her. My mom is coming along and is going to feed her some baby food and water while I'm having the procedure/recovering to try to make sure she's ok until I'm ready to feed her. Ugh.
My other big concern is how sore I will be after. I was super sore after the thing was placed, but I'm assuming/hoping I won't be nearly as sore just having it removed. However, it is stitched down so I'm sure there will be some level of pain with it. It is on my left side which is where Maya always lays her head and is the side I hold her on. I'm struggling with perhaps not being able to pick her up or let her lay her head on my chest for a few days. It will be really hard. Ugh.
Anyway, sorry for lengthy post. Guess I'm just feeling more nervous about this than I initially thought I was. Hopefully everything goes to plan with the breastfeeding and I'm not too sore afterward!
Thanks to anyone who made it to the end of this post! I would also welcome any info from people who have had a port removed and what it was like (pain level, length of procedure, etc.). I'm not having a new one put it at this point. I've only used this one twice since it was put in 3 1/2 years ago. So I'm going to go without for a while and then eventually have a new one put in on my right side. I know that may sound a little crazy but I don't want Maya having to dig her head into/lay on it for the next however many years. Plus the docs now say they would actually prefer to have it on my right side. So that will be a procedure for another day.
Ok I'm really done now! Thanks again everyone.
Autumn