Wishing you a quick and easy time. We all admire that you have been able to maintain your joyful spirit despite all you have been through.

Ditto Les. Prayers for a quick and easy procedure!

tina

Mega prayers are coming your way. Is it an outpatient procedure?

All the best of luck to you !!

Wow, what great news! Let us know how it goes!

GOOD LUCK! Fingers and toes crossed!

Eileen; I'm surprised your port was in so long. My dad's used to last about 2 weeks, then he'd get an infection. He had a PICC line; they took it out at the office. Hope yours goes as smooth as his used to.

I also want to say congrats!
You obviously picked the right place to be treated at. I'm very happy for you

Eileen, it's so good to hear happy news from you. I hope your surgery is quick & uneventful. May good things keep coming your way.

Mojo coming your way. Here's to an uneventful surgery. Good riddance, port! May Eileen never see anything like you again!

Thanks all!! Turns out my friend was not available for the Thursday appt for port removal surgery. So I moved it up - it's today Wednesday. Only problem is the time open is 11 am with me reporting at 9:30am. So by this afternoon I will be very thirsty and hungry.

On another note I did get two phone calls for jobs yesterday. One would pay almost twice what I am making but it is a 3 month contract job with no benefits. I am not making much money at all at my present jobs and I have no benefits but they are steady work. The recruiter gal was honest saying that Petsmart generally does not hire long term. It seems to be the trend these days. An ex-coworker of mine at a custom home builder was working a contract job at Wells Fargo but even though it seemed to be working out they told me adios a few months ago.
So I was entertaining the idea of a contract job but that would not solve my lack of career work, would it?

I was done with port removal and ready to go home by 1pm AZ time (that is 3 hours behind the East coast daylight savings, 2 hours behind the Midwest, 1 hour behind Mountain dalight savings time and matching CA daylight savings time.

I have decided against going for an interview for a 3 month job. If it was a permanent job or a 1 year contract I would jump at that in a nanosecond.

So I can go back to work tomorrow as usual.
I have to keep the outer bandage on until Sat about noon and then let jeri strips fall off on their own. The surgeon used the same incison so I will only have 1 scar and not two. The nurses could not use my inner elbows for the IV. They did however use ultra sound on each arm to locate veins. That was cool. My left arm has a vein but there is a valve in there which will not allow the needle to advance. This nurse tried anyway. Boy, did that hurt. So for IV the nurse accessed the port, the very one they would be removing. This time I was awake the whole tome. Last time when they put it in I know I had been asleep. Then the doctor had to inject a local anethesia into the skin around the port. That also really hurt. Luckily, I did not feelthe cutting part. I almost prefer being asleep - that way you do not have to hear the things they talk about or hear the sounds or feel any pulling.

Thanks everyone!!

That's wonderful news! I bet you are so relieved that this is now behind you.

That's too bad that the job being a contract only. What is your degree in? I remember at one point you did talk about getting a design job with a furniture store? If I am confusing you with another poster with regard to the furniture/design thing, I apologize. However, you have recently posted some pics of really nice decorating you've done in your home, so I am thinking you must have some sort of design degree/background?

With your job not offering health insurance benefits, how much trouble did you have finding health insurance coverage? Curious as I have to shop for new health insurance soon. Did you have any problems with having a pre-existing condition? DD has a pre-existing, and I am wondering what to expect with when we try to buy a policy. Any tips, or guidance with dealing with that, would be greatly appreciated. I can keep her on my health insurance until she is out of college, but after that, she is going to have to buy an individual policy if she can afford it. If she can't afford it, I have no idea what she'll do as she needs alot of medical care despite her young age.

Again, so glad to hear all went well with your port removal. Best wishes for continued good health, you have come a long way!

Great news! Will continue to send all good thoughts your way and wishes for much joy and laughter!

Great news, three! Keep the forward motion going! Have you tried Costco? I have a friend whose mom works there, has been there for years and she loves it. (I don't know any specifics though...)

Eileen- I am so happy for you. I count the days to my port removal. It is such a monumentous milestone.

I had conscience sedation with the port being put in. They simply turned up the juice so I could was not coherent for the actual procedure but I was awake. It felt like I was awake the whole time but am missing the middle part. I hope that is how the removal goes for me. I cannot imagine being awake for that procedure even if you cannot feel it. Being totally awake for the biopsy was no fun with all the needle poking, same with the nuke med dye injections prior to surgery. Yuck.

Again, I am so totally happy for you. I hate being part of this "club" we are in but do look forward to being in the "survior" club with you once the port is out.

Continued good luck and prayers for a happy and long life. Do something totally special for yourself to celebrate. I thought of having my radiation tatoo on my breast turned into a little teeny tiny pink heart if the doc will allow me. Think of something really special, you so deserve it.

Thank you!! Shannon, I will pray for your complete cure. God bless you!!

Eileen,

I am so glad to hear that you are through with the port removal and safely home. One more hurdle faced, surmounted and left behind. I am in awe of your courage and I continue to keep you in my thoughts.

L

I thought of having my radiation tatoo on my breast turned into a little teeny tiny pink heart

Now that's a GREAT reason to get a tattoo! (And the only one I can think of)

Sherrmann, I figure if I have to have this stupid thing I might as well make the best of it rather than it getting the best of me- lol!

Eileen- hope you are recovering well today.

Happy Mother's Day, Eileen and I hope you're having a great port-less day! Glad to hear your ordeal wasn't too bad and I'm glad you're done with it!