The doctor finally decided to put a port in for my father. He is on docetaxel and will be.doing an additional 10 rounds. Hes already had 10. Prior to this he has had 2 bad arm infections due to chemo burns. The most recent one was his entire forearm. It was really bad. Red swollen and just painful. The nurse informed us this is very common with the docetaxel chemo. Any similar reactions? I kind of thought this was due to their mistakes while admin the chemo? Hes having surgery in a couple days for the port. Is the port risky to have? I've heard mixed reactions. Thanks in advance.
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Tua32427
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I had burns on either hand. In each case a weal about 100 mm long and about 20 mm wide rising up the hand/ arm from the point of infusion. I thought something had been spilled but apparently not so and I don't recall any spills either. Neither was painful or particularly uncomfortable just unsightly. Oncologist wasn't at all concerned and couldn't explain it except to say 'it can happen with docetaxel'. I applied a regular skin cream and the weals went away after about 6-7 weeks. Interestingly, the hair has not grown back along the line of the weals on my hands and forearms.
Thanks for the reply. The first burn he had they had said some of the meds leaked out. This second burn has been painful and infected. The nurse and dr just said this is common with docetaxel. Didn't mention a spill either.
The guys here know best, but my dad's hand swelled up red and huge and the nurse ended up in trouble with doctor because they messed up and it went under skin not into vein. Also make sure the continually switch veins. Oh wait he has a port in ok good. I'm not sure if it's the same port but my dad had one put in to do immunotherapy. If your dad's numbers go up on two readings he becomes a candidate for immunotherapy. My dads body started filling with water like pounds by the day so he did not continue past the six recommended. Ten . Man your dad is a hero. Strong man. I know how hard this is on a daughter so if you ever just want to chat I'm here. My dad is doing well after two years post dx. Don't lose hope this field is growing fast
Thank you! My father is most definitely my hero. Hes been battling this beast for 10 years now. I'd love to chat it is hard on daughters and caretakers. Is your father psa detectable?
A bit off topic but I gained 10kg (about 10-15% of pre-chemo weight) over the 5 months of the chemo program. I couldn’t believe it every time I was weighed prior to an infusion that I had gained about 2kg - that in spite of very careful eating. Be careful, fluid retention can have some very unpleasant knock-on effects.
Thank you! So far my father has been losing weight. In the beginning he lost 25 pounds from.doing chemo and radiation together made him sick and has yet to gain the weight back from that. Total hes down 30 pounds. Starting my father had some.excess weight to be lost. Thank goodness.
I’m surprised they didn’t put the port in before he started the course of chemo. That’s pretty much standard operating procedure by the oncologists my wife and I have dealt with at the Mayo in Jax. I have heard several stories of chemo burns at the needle site when done in the arm for docetaxel infusions. He shouldn’t have any burns once he gets the port installed.
I had a port installed prior to starting a course of docetaxel (6 cycles at 3 week intervals) late last fall. The installation was a piece of cake...the procedure took less than 30 minutes total under local lidocaine and very mild sedation (enough to calm you, but leave you totally alert and responsive). They were able to access the port later on the same day for my first cycle.
It is very safe. I had no, nada, zero, issues with the port. It was a Godsend. On subsequent visits they could use it to draw labs and do the chemo.
I just had it removed last Friday. Took all of 10-15 minutes. No sedation. Local lidocaine. Walked out of the room when I was done. The only downside is no golf 🏌️for a month. The upside is no heavy lifting (over 10#) for a month, which means no yard work. 😎
Thank you. Hes going tomorrow for port. And then chemo on Monday. I'm not sure why they waited to do port. I know that I'm quite skeptical of the doctor. When he first started chemo it almost killed him. They were doing emergency radiation on a spinal tumor and chemo at the same time. As I know it needed to be done, the doctor never informed us of the dangers of the two treatments together. Unfortunately I cant talk my stubborn father into getting a second opinion.
A lot of people in my group had to get ports due to veins burning out, less trouble than getting a vein every time. Have to be careful to keep clean some said they liked it better
I got burns and blisters every time. They finally got the ultrasound guy to find the veins and go deeper down for those veins and no more burns.
It’s why you need the port. There are strict decontamition procedures for leakage. It was critical that I followed them when I was sent home with a 24 hr pump for the second chemo drug during my six month trial. I alternated docetaxel and doxorubicin on a weekly basis.
Just completed 5th round of Docetaxel, no burns at all. Most prevalent side effect has been hot flashes. Lesser effects tingling in tongue, neutropenia in soles of feet, constipation (relieved through daily glass of Restorelax and small glass of prun e juice).
I had a port put in 5 months ago best thing I had done I am not good at getting a vein. I also had docetaxel and carboplatin. I didn't sustain any burning through my portacath
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