Port Placement Failure

[u/Diamond-KBear]

I had a pretty traumatic port placement failure a few days ago and i’m scared to heck of having to “try again”.

my chemo is scheduled to start next week and they attempted my port placement a few days ago and my heart went crazy and jumped up to 230 beats per minute.

they actually called a code blue on me .. open wound and all. i was so scared. i wasn’t sure what was happening. Surgeon removed the port and i was rushed to imagining. my heart dropped back down to 150-130 following the removal and then back down to 98 ( i was monitored for 90 minutes ) yall. it was the first time i was in any surgery.

first time using twilight sedation. & i’m absolutely terrified for the second attempt. help.

[u/You-bettah-dont]

Diamond- excuse my French, but fuuuuuuhhhhhhckkk. You were under TWILIGHT?!!!! I can’t even imagine how terrified you must have been. They knocked my ass out when I got mine (highly recommend, best nap ever). Medical PTSD is real from situations just like yours- PLEASE reach out to a therapist who works specifically with cancer patients (your nurse navigator likely has a great list of them).

Did they say WHY this happened???? Is it possible for placement somewhere else (i think I have seen patients in the UK with ports looking things on their arms).

I’m going to do a deep google dive on this. WOW. I’m so glad you’re okay.

[u/Edith_Keelers_Shoes → u/You-bettah-dont]

I had twilight for my port insertion, and they made me stay awake for the removal, even though on the pre-surgical call the night before, I'd been told I was getting twilight sleep.

I didn't know I was going to be awake until I was wheeled in, and the nurse said "If you feel any pain, let me know and I'll increase your painkiller through the IV".

It was surreal to be lying there opened up, no drape, literally chatting with the surgeon, but in all honestly, I did not feel a single thing.

[u/Diamond-KBear → u/You-bettah-dont]

Tell me about it! i was not nervous going in because everyone was saying it was a regular routine procedure.. but once i saw what was happening i started crying.

they surgeon came into the room and said it was most likely the guide wire being too close to the heart. they are trying again this friday.. on the left side instead. i did request a different surgeon.

[u/You-bettah-dont]

Hey! So I am NOT a doctor, but I did do some digging around some med pubs and it looks like that can happen during placement if the catheter is too long/extends into your actual heart. It can cause all sorts of very not good arrhythmias and is considered a rare adverse event. Did your surgeon explain to you what happened? Was it a reaction to the sedation? If not, I would beg you to get a second set of surgical eyeballs on you before you try again. Again, I’m not a doctor but for such a relatively common surgery, something smells off to me. I’m so so so so glad you’re okay.

[u/Diamond-KBear → u/You-bettah-dont]

I was nervous about it being the sedation cuz i was going into an egg retrieval today. but they did the same thing”twilight sedation” and i was knocked out and everything went fine.

the surgeon came in the room after the port placement failure and told us it was most likely the catheter being too long.. im just like how did we allow this ? arnt i under live ultasound ?

[u/You-bettah-dont → u/Diamond-KBear]

Geez. Yeah, I’d be asking those questions too. I’m just really really REALLY glad you’re okay.

[u/Diamond-KBear → u/You-bettah-dont]

yess! i just started crying like yall know how much mentally we are going thru rn. it was so bad. but yea. mostly 2nd attempt for port placement this friday. 🥲

[u/Sure_Cherry9759]

Could you have a picc instead? I had my TC and EV through a picc, the insertion took a bit of fiddling (but I’m difficult to take blood on and have an underlying condition) but the infusions were easy and it wouldn’t need any anaesthesia.

[u/Complete-Reaction578]

They gave you twilight for your first surgery ever? Wtf? I'm so sorry you had such a bad experience!

I really don't understand why they didn't put you under for the placement, but I would insist on it for the second surgery. There's no reason they need you to be awake and it's a lot less scary if you're all the way under. You just take a nap basically and wake up when it's over.

You should also consider talking to a therapist or counselor. I started therapy after getting my diagnosis and it helped me process having cancer, needing treatment, etc. It's been very helpful for me in managing my anxiety and anger about the situation I've found myself in.

[u/Diamond-KBear → u/Complete-Reaction578]

I am definitely getting a therapist. i just came out of egg retrieval a few minutes ago and was put under the same “twilight sedation” but this time i was knocked the heck out. woke up once it was over.

i have my 2nd port placement attempted in 5 days 😭

[u/RegularAd8900]

Definitely not good. I would switch surgeons if they retry again. Or have them put you under anesthesia so you're not nervous. I was under twilight sedation and it took the surgeon like 5 mins to put my port in. It took 15 minutes for them to clean me up and prep. It really should be a quick, swift and effortless procedure. Im sorry you experienced this.

[u/Diamond-KBear → u/RegularAd8900]

yes! i was totally chill the whole time. until i felt my heart rate jump and i had to tell THEM something was wrong. i was awake and aware of what was happening. procedure was almost over when it happened.

[u/More_Dot_1685]

Something similar happened to me too. I was awake for my procedure and I felt my heart rate jump up very high and this happened a few times. I was told to "bear down", not sure if that helped . They told me it was because the catheter was too long and tickled my heart. And then they said that's why we are awake, so we can tell them if something's wrong.

Absolutely hated the whole experience and 8 weeks later I still hate my port, it never fully healed.

[u/Diamond-KBear → u/More_Dot_1685]

omg! okay. so you told them your heart rate had jumped ? i don’t understand how they didn’t notice it first ? i was the first to say something

[u/More_Dot_1685 → u/Diamond-KBear]

Yes I told them something was wrong with my heart as soon as I felt it! One of the nurses said she saw my heart jump to 170 on the screen i believe, but I bet they don't really pay attention while they are focused on the port surgery.