I am scheduled to have the chemo port surgically installed at 1 PM on May 28th.
It will be a day surgery procedure that involves running a tube into a vein in my neck. The tube will be connected to a reservoir (port) where the chemo is administered. This whole contraption will be under the skin.
The top picture to the left is what the port looks like. The round part is the reservoir.
Though I will be able to feel it with my fingers, the port will be under the skin and will not be visible.
Chemo will be administered by inserting a needle, which is connected to a long length of tubing, into the port. The chemo will be pumped into the port from a pump that I will wear.
The chemo treatments will begin on the morning of June 3rd.
Though the pump will run 24/7 I will go in once a week for refills. I will not be required to use the phrase “filler er up”. They will just do it with out being asked, which is very efficient.
The picture on the bottom left is what I will look like if the surgeon gets carried away. There is minimal risk this will happen because our insurance will not cover it.
Once you are connected to the hive, could you ask 7 of 9 to come visit please? I’m sure the procedure will go well and hopefully they will give some ‘good’ drugs before you are assimilated. And remember what Hugh (the drone in the picture) said, “Resistance is not futile?”
The picture at the bottom would be a marked improvement.
Ed – I am disturbed that you and “Hugh” are on a first name basis. This reveals an ominous aspect of your life to which I was unaware. As to 7 of 9, I am still wondering why she had such massive breast implants installed when Borg babies are grown in incubators and Borg men have no interest in big boobs. Perhaps as I plunge deeper into the Borg experience I will have deeper insights into these kinds of issues.
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Carl – This is obviously true. However, looks are not everything. You can obviously see that Hugh is remarkably pale, which could indicate his chemo needs to be adjusted. There are some health issues that go beyond mere beauty.
7 of 9 has recently been filming in Portland. Not to mix metaphors, but I believe this means that the force is already with you.
I can definitely feel that the force is with me, and greatly appreciate your reminding me. However, I may never forgive you for mixing Star Wars and Star Trek metaphors. Some things just are not done. It is like blasphemy, in a secular sort of way.
Oh, all right, I forgive you.
You may indeed mix metaphors if and when the Schwartz is with you…
Thank God for Google and Youtube. Without it I wouldn’t have a clue what you were talking about. I am still somewhat clueless, but less so than before.
Unlike other Borg implants, the portacath mechanism can be extracted at a later date, thereby preventing total assimilation. It can even be sanitized and sterilized after extraction, put into one’s memory box and taken out as needed to serve as a conversation piece.
The first words uttered by others who have undergone this Borg implant procedure can be described, as follows: “Drugs are NOT futile.”
Memory box? I don’t think so.
I’m thinking of having my nose pierced and wearing the thing as an ornament. After all, becoming a Borg, while avoiding total assimilation, is not something to be taken lightly or hidden away.
It something to be displayed proudly.
All best wishes for tomorrow’s adventure! I hope you’ll feel up to telling us about this experience — if not tomorrow, then Saturday?… 🙂
I am currently going through chemo, myself. However, I do not need a port. I do 2 different chemo drugs: One through an IV every 2 weeks and one is taken orally for a week on and then off. I am utterly clueless as to what the references are, but I had to comment for the commonality that is cancer and chemo. So good luck to you and the port, from what I know from my brothers’ father, who had one for his chemo treatments; it didn’t seem to bother him much. Of course the port itself didn’t compare to the actual treatments. But I’m glad to say that they gave him 3 months to live back in May and he’s still fighting the fight. So stay strong.
The Borg comments are Star Trek references. The Borg were part human, part high tech machines that had a lot of tubes sticking out of them. Since I was having the port surgically installed I felt like I was becoming a Borg. When I had the port, feeding tube, and drain installed I totally felt like a Borg.
I’ve had my last chemo treatment. Now I’m just waiting for the stuff to get out of my system so I can start living a normal life again. My next step is relearning how to eat after a total gastrectomy. After that, all the tubes can come out.
You have my total sympathy for what you are now going through. Chemo is nasty stuff and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. I’ll send you a few prayers.