Well it’s been great to say that I haven’t had a lot to post about of the past few days. My family was able to take a much needed vacation in beautiful Kiawah Island, SC. Now that we’re home is time to get back into the chemo routine.
Tomorrow is a big day because I’m having a port put in. It became very obvious during the last couple of my treatments during the intensive period that I was going to need a port. On the very last week of the intensive, week 10, I had to receive three different IVs before they found a vein that worked! The nurses even called out as they struggled to find a vein, “thank god you’re getting a port!”
Check in tomorrow for the surgery is 7:30 AM. The surgery is done by the interventional radiologists. At first it was scary to hear that the surgery was done by interventional radiology, however, it quickly became obvious that the interventional radiologists are very skilled and the best people to put in the port. Check in to check out is supposed to be somewhere around six hours. Once I’m checked in at 7:30 they take my vitals and prep me for surgery. If everything goes to plan, I’ll go into surgery around 9:30. The surgery is expected to take around an hour and a half.
Unlike when adults have ports put in, I’m fully sedated during my surgery. However, unlike my neurosurgery they don’t use anesthesia. Instead they use deep sedation. I’m not exactly sure what the difference is. I know it means that recovery time is shorted, but I’m not sure that the other big differences are. The side effects are expected to be pretty minor. I’m expected to have some discomfort but nothing major. Also, I know that I cannot submerge the area where the port is placed for a week and I cannot do any intense physical activity. They’re going to leave a line in the port, that way when I have chemo on Thursday, the nurses can use the port.
Hopefully everything goes to plan. I’ll fill everyone in on how things went on Friday after my surgery and my first chemo of the maintenance period. Thanks again for following my journey and for all the amazing support.
Josh's Journey 
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