Thanks so much for the prayers during my test today.  As is true most of the time, the fear of the test was much worse than the test itself.  I did not loose it or meltdown today and I attribute that to your prayers. 

We waited in line to register, then waited in line at the radiology dept.  Finally they took us back and I was fairly calm…on the outside at least.  Then the doc came in and explained the proceedure to us.  He said there was no need for an IV.  The last time I had a dye test it had to be administered by IV so I assumed that would be true here as well…I was wrong!!  What a relief. They told me how they were going to access my port using an floriscope.  That means they are watching on a screen as they access it so they don’t miss!  That sounded doable to me so I was able to relax a little. 

He went through all of the possible problems they would be looking for including, a kink, a crack, that is was turned around, that my body had rejected it, that it had come out of my vein, etc…  Some of these things could be fixed while they were working but some would mean taking out the port and putting in a new one.  I tried to think positive thoughts.  Then they were ready to take me and told me that Bill couldn’t go with me!  I asked please, please to no avail. 

So I was put on a table with a big machine hanging over me.  They lined everything up and told me to hold my breath…ouch it hurt while it was going in.  But once is was in they were able to do everything quickly.  They said it had old blood in it…that is cause for infection so it was a good thing we had this procedure done before it got infected.  That was from last chemo when they thought they had it then it popped out and they had to try again.  They never were able to get it so therefore they didn’t get to flush it out as normal. 

The next thing they told me was that it was functioning properly and that it wasn’t kinked, turned or otherwise broken.  It was still attached.  The only thing was that it is slightly tilted but that should not be a problem now that we know which way it is tilted.  It is also deep because it is in soft tissue (that is a nice way to say fat)  That means it has settled in deeper than they originally put it.  That is easily fixed…by using a long needle!  Yes that is what they said, if the needle is longer it can get deep enough to access it.  So the good news it no problem with the port.  The bad news is that the needle will have to go deeper.

The doc called my chemo nurse and told her exactly how to do it next time… that will be the true test.