Port surgery and appointments

This morning I had my port implanted. A port is basically a medical device that is implanted in the body that provides direct access to a vein without having to constantly put in IVs. In my case, my port was placed in my upper right chest area, and will be used for blood draws and to administer chemotherapy without burning up the veins in my arms. When they want to access it, they will just stick a needle into the triangular portion of my port, through the skin. (Check out what that looks like, below)

It wasn't an awful procedure, the anticipation was the worst part. I was awake for the whole thing, but numbed and sedated. It felt like a ton of tugging and pressure after the initial pain from the numbing shot (which also wasn't terrible, but it was prolonged). Now I am bandaged and have to keep it dry and bandaged until my chemo appointment next week. It's definitely sore, and it hurts to even turn my head at the moment, but my pain will get better over the next few days, according to my doctor.

Tomorrow is a big day, I have my PET scan, which will determine what stage Hodgkin's I have, and my pulmonary function test. I'm very happy to finally be having that done, though a teeny bit bummed, because I had to stop eating at 8pm and couldn't have carbs for dinner, and all I wanted after today's procedure was a big bowl of pasta! Oh well, tomorrow! All in all, things seem to be moving quickly now.

Here are a few pictures from today. Will post again after my PET and pulmonary function test tomorrow.

Hopefully my last IV for a while!

Post surgery bandaged mess. 

Power port, the type of port I had implanted.