Port issues...any suggestions?

[Sea5]

My dad reacted poorly to an initial full dose of docetaxel. After recovering, he had a port put in. It is not returning blood, probably due to blockage from scar tissue/a myelin sheath. (They did a port study.). I was told that the nurses have tried to help shift the port/myelin a bit, but no luck. They gave him the 1/3 dose of chemo today via his arm (ugh). For the sake of his veins, I hope they won’t do that again. I think he’ll get a clot-buster next week. Anyone got any other experience/ideas on how to address this? Did anyone discover a magical stretch or posture that could dismantle a blockage? Dad is 87. I think no one is eager for him to have to to repeat port surgery...but I’m so hoping that he can get through the next 2 chemo treatments so we could then hightail it back to Duke during his week off. Thanks for any help!

[tango65]

Some suggestions:

oncnursingnews.com/publicat...

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

[Sea5 in reply to tango65]

Thank you! Earlier tonight I had happened across the 1st link, but not the second one! Glad for that info. My dad told me he wasn’t sure that they had an action plan for him...hopefully we’ll soon have some fibrin/myelin-busting action underway!

[tango65 in reply to Sea5]

Best of luck. Keep us posted.

[j-o-h-n]

Give your Dad my best and tell him that people born in the 30's were tough customers indeed....

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Saturday 10/26/2019 1:51 PM DST

[Sea5 in reply to j-o-h-n]

Thank you so much...you’re right! My dad’s resilience (and that of others here) has been impressive and encouraging!