Today was a big day for me. After 9 years and 57 days I had my port removed.
My husband drove me up to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH), I registered for the procedure and went downstairs to Interventional Radiology (IR) . This was the exact place where my port was inserted on August 9, 2005. It seemed like ages ago.
The IR nurse checked my history and confirmed my meds. All my previous surgeries have taken place at RWJUH so most of the information was already available so all I had to do was confirm it. (BTW: I was asked if I had traveled outside the US in the past 3 months.) I then dressed in one of those stylish gowns with the wide open backs and got ready to be taken in. The PA who was doing the procedure also came to see me and went over exactly what she would be doing and asked if I had any questions.
As other patients were being treated I laid there thinking about what was actually taking place. I was giving up my port. I was ready. In the past I have been fearful to get the port removed. Afraid that if I took out the port my cancer would return . My veins are not the best and I have always been concerned about having to have IVs through my veins. But now that I am down to one CT scan a year I am ok with the uncomfortable sensation and pain I get when an IV is inserted. And now that I am 5 years from my recurrence I am ready to say that I might not recur any time soon.
My nephew's friend, a nurse in that area, rolled me into the procedure room and stayed with me during the procedure. As I was moved onto the table and being covered with a warm blanket in walked the doctor who had inserted the double port 9+ years ago. He was happy to see that I was getting the port out and wished me luck.
As the PA injected the anesthetic into the area where my port has resided for the past few years she apologized for causing me discomfort. I told her that compared to accessing my port without any lidocaine cream this wasn't painful at all. She continued with the procedure asking me how I was diagnosed, who was my gyn-onc and who did my spleen and liver surgery. We chatted while my nephew's friend held my hand. I felt pulls and tugs and then she said it is out. WOW! She then asked one of the techs to clean it so I could take it home. Yes, I had asked to take this part of me home.
She stitched me up, put on the dermabond and I thanked her for doing the procedure with such care.
Back in the recovery room I was given my discharge instructions and my port in a small plastic container. As I left the nurse turned to say goodbye and told me she hopes she doesn't ever have to see me again. I hope so too.
Dee
Every Day is a Blessing! Blessed to be treated at RWJUH.
Showing posts with label RWJUH. Show all posts
Showing posts with label RWJUH. Show all posts
Monday, October 6, 2014
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Hurricane Sandy's Impact on NJ's Cancer Patients
Note: My home has made it through Hurricane Sandy with only minor damage to the roof. We are lucky to have power, internet & cable and our water is drinkable. Most of my relatives who live in various parts of the state of NJ are without power and many without water. I have relatives and friends with homes on LBI, in Seaside Park and Ocean Beach III and Long Branch. Some know their homes are still standing while others have no idea. We try to check out aerial photos for shots of their location since they are unable to get to those locations. I have another friend with a home in Monmouth Beach who had water up to their second floor and the home is now uninhabitable. But every single one of them is alive and safe. Thank God.
Sandy was a huge storm affected almost 1000 miles of the northeast. But Sandy's impact on the lives of cancer patients is far reaching too.
My cancer center, The Cancer Institute of New Jersey(CINJ) is located in New Brunswick, NJ four blocks from the Raritan River. Sandy caused the Raritan River to flood its banks. The city was closed. Even Rutger's University located there is closed. I can count on one hand the number of times Rutgers has closed in its 200+ year history. There is a boil water advisory in affect and only essential and hospital personnel were allowed into the city. Power is out and public transportation is closed down.
Last night on facebook I read this post by CINJ.
"Due to the hurricane, The Cancer Institute of New Jersey will be closed until Monday November 5th. Please share this as we are unable to distribute notification through email and on our website. Patients will be contacted directly. "
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital RWJUH( located across the street from CINJ and its affiliate hospital) posted this:
"Important Announcement for all UMDNJ staff and patients:
UMDNJ has announced that they are cancelling all outpatient services for October 31, November 1 and November 2.
Patients and staff of UMDNJ should continue to monitor University communications outlets for updates.
"
Sandy was a huge storm affected almost 1000 miles of the northeast. But Sandy's impact on the lives of cancer patients is far reaching too.
My cancer center, The Cancer Institute of New Jersey(CINJ) is located in New Brunswick, NJ four blocks from the Raritan River. Sandy caused the Raritan River to flood its banks. The city was closed. Even Rutger's University located there is closed. I can count on one hand the number of times Rutgers has closed in its 200+ year history. There is a boil water advisory in affect and only essential and hospital personnel were allowed into the city. Power is out and public transportation is closed down.
Last night on facebook I read this post by CINJ.
"Due to the hurricane, The Cancer Institute of New Jersey will be closed until Monday November 5th. Please share this as we are unable to distribute notification through email and on our website. Patients will be contacted directly. "
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital RWJUH( located across the street from CINJ and its affiliate hospital) posted this:
"Important Announcement for all UMDNJ staff and patients:
UMDNJ has announced that they are cancelling all outpatient services for October 31, November 1 and November 2.
Patients and staff of UMDNJ should continue to monitor University communications outlets for updates.
"
The radiology group , University Radiology Group where I have my scans done posted this:
"Because of storm-related power outages, our offices will be closed Wednesday morning, October 31st until noon. We will be closely monitoring the outage situation during the morning hours. If power is restored to any of our facilities, we will re-open that office Wednesday afternoon. Status updates will be posted to this web site page, Facebook and Twitter when possible. Our staff will also be calling you to reschedule/confirm your appointment. "
Those are pretty dramatic effects of the storm.
I have or should I say had, an appointment for a port flush for tomorrow at 11:30 am. I get one every 6-8 weeks so I have a window in which to get it done. I am not too worried.
But I am thinking about my friends who are in treatment for recurrences. I think of all the cancer patients adults and children in treatment in the region who are missing a dose of chemo or radiation or are unable to get a blood test. Maybe their facility is closed or they can't get to treatment because roads are closed. When Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005 I had just started my chemotherapy. I remember thinking how terrible it would be to miss a chemotherapy treatment.After all I needed to kill this cancer. And here is the same situation happening in my home state. On Sunday morning I had packed some things in case we needed to leave our home. The first thing I took out was my treatment binder - with surgical and CT reports and drug information.
One ovarian cancer survivor I know had an appointment yesterday for a CT scan to see if she was back in remission and done with chemotherapy. She now has to wait. I feel that waiting and not knowing what is going on is one of the hardest things to deal with when diagnosed with cancer.
This storm was unprecedented. I know the hospitals and cancer centers are doing all they can for their patients under the conditions they have experienced.
Back in 2006 I missed two treatments due to low platelets. At first I was upset but I rested, watched TV, painted and was ready to go the next week. So if you are reading this page and are missing a treatment, you may not be able to watch TV if your power is out I just know you will be ok.
Dee
Every Day is a Blessing!
Friday, August 5, 2011
For Men over 40 - Free Prostate Screening
I am usually writing posts for women with ovarian cancer but I want to share something for the men in our lives.
FREE Prostate Screening New Brunswick, NJ
Monday, September 19, 2011 5 pm - 8 pm Screenings are free, but an appointment is required. |
To schedule your appointment for a screening, please call1-888-MD-RWJUH (1-888-637-9584)
|
Thank you CINJ and the RWJUH for offering this screening for over 10 years.
Dee
Every Day is a Blessing!
Friday, August 7, 2009
Busy Week and PET Day
Matt was up this week so I was spending lots of time with him and not on the computer. Sorry for the lack of entries.
Yesterday was PET day. How I wish it meant I was getting a new dog. No it just meant that I would spend hours at RWJUH having a Positron emission tomography test.
I arrived at 8:30 am to register then went downstairs to the radiology department. By 9 am I was with Margaret - a nurse with a special touch. She can find a vein and start an IV with ease. They don't use my port because the radiotracer is sticky and might just hang up in the port. We chatted a bit about her hometown of Athens, Georgia as she checked my blood sugar. I visited Georgia last month so it was nice to tell her about the places I had visited.
Then, on went the I-pod and blanket and in came the technician. He injected the radiotracer( Fluorodeoxyglucose) and I laid still listening to music for an hour. I was told to drink a bottle of water before I arrived and then all that IV fluid meant a full bladder so a trip to the rest room was in order. Then I had the scan done. The entire scan took about 45 minutes. Laying still was ok but having my arms over my head became a bit uncomfortable. Just when my arms started to go numb the tech lowered the table and slid me out of the machine. He asked me to go have something to eat and be back in 45 minutes.
So from G1 I went to the 2nd floor for some lunch. I must admit the food is pretty good there. Plus they now have Dunkin Donuts Coffee.
At 11:30 I went back downstairs for the last group of scans. Since I have Ovarian Cancer they do a second set of scans of the pelvic region after the radiotracer has a chance to decay and not light up my bladder so nothing behind it can be seen. Thirty minutes later I was done and ready to go home.
On the way out I ran into Jay, who is a nurse in special procedures. It is always nice to see a familiar face.
Since I had been flat on my back for most of the past 3 hours I figured I needed to walk home. So that is what I did. Slower than when I walked home last year before my surgery and chemo but it still felt good.
I ran across this article about PET and OC from last month" Society of Nuclear Medicine Meeting and thought I would share it-
LiveStrong
Dee
Every Day is a Blessing ! Today my blessing was eating lunch outside in Princeton with my friend Flo.
Yesterday was PET day. How I wish it meant I was getting a new dog. No it just meant that I would spend hours at RWJUH having a Positron emission tomography test.
I arrived at 8:30 am to register then went downstairs to the radiology department. By 9 am I was with Margaret - a nurse with a special touch. She can find a vein and start an IV with ease. They don't use my port because the radiotracer is sticky and might just hang up in the port. We chatted a bit about her hometown of Athens, Georgia as she checked my blood sugar. I visited Georgia last month so it was nice to tell her about the places I had visited.
Then, on went the I-pod and blanket and in came the technician. He injected the radiotracer( Fluorodeoxyglucose) and I laid still listening to music for an hour. I was told to drink a bottle of water before I arrived and then all that IV fluid meant a full bladder so a trip to the rest room was in order. Then I had the scan done. The entire scan took about 45 minutes. Laying still was ok but having my arms over my head became a bit uncomfortable. Just when my arms started to go numb the tech lowered the table and slid me out of the machine. He asked me to go have something to eat and be back in 45 minutes.
So from G1 I went to the 2nd floor for some lunch. I must admit the food is pretty good there. Plus they now have Dunkin Donuts Coffee.
At 11:30 I went back downstairs for the last group of scans. Since I have Ovarian Cancer they do a second set of scans of the pelvic region after the radiotracer has a chance to decay and not light up my bladder so nothing behind it can be seen. Thirty minutes later I was done and ready to go home.
On the way out I ran into Jay, who is a nurse in special procedures. It is always nice to see a familiar face.
Since I had been flat on my back for most of the past 3 hours I figured I needed to walk home. So that is what I did. Slower than when I walked home last year before my surgery and chemo but it still felt good.
I ran across this article about PET and OC from last month" Society of Nuclear Medicine Meeting and thought I would share it-
SNM 2009: FDG-PET/CT May Be Superior to CA-125 in Detecting Ovarian Cancer Recurrence
LiveStrong
Dee
Every Day is a Blessing ! Today my blessing was eating lunch outside in Princeton with my friend Flo.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Jan 27, from Chemo recliner at CINJ to hospital bed at RWJUH
The past few days have been busy and interesting to say the least.
Jan 27~
Thursday I arrived at 7:45 at CINJ for chemo number 2. They accessed my port and I went to see Doctor Gibbon. I was happy that my CA-125 was down to 18, white, red and platelets were good and the physical exam was good. Back I went to the treatment area . I started to use Emend to prevent the nausea I had last time and also used the other premeds. I got through my titrated taxol( 3 + hours) with no problems. Did the flush in between and started the carboplatin.Roughly halfway through the half hour dosage ~ 12 minutes, I felt light headed and flushed. ( This was my 11th carboplatin infusion and up to that point had no side effects.)I looked up out of chair number 1 ( which is right across from the nurses station) and said "Carla things are not right" .She ran over and immediately stopped the drip purged the line while the other nurses called the pharmacists and my doctor and the nurse practitioner. They gave me various IV drugs but I was still short of breath , had chest pressure and sharp pain in my chest by my sternum. They did an EKG that was abnormal so Dr Rodrgiuez took the results across the street to RWJUH and came back with the 2 cardiologists who thought it best to admit me.
So an ambulance was called around 3:15 and literally drove me across the street. I stayed in the emergency room until a bed on 4 north 6 opened up around 9:30 pm. Nick visited a short time and then alycia and Kevin stayed until I was in a room. Lucky for me that brought some food for me to eat. (Thanks guys.) While in the emergency room it was decided that I should have an cardiac catheteritization on Wednesday. They discussed the stress that the carbo played on my heart and the need to check if I had any blockages and also to check enzyme levels and how my muscle was functioning so I stayed overnight.
Jan 28
I slept good through the night and at 10:30 they moved me to the catheterization department. Dr Burns ran the test and found no blockages -HURRAH- with no need to isert any stents. The heart muscle looked good to him too. So after waiting a half hour with pressure on the femoral artery they moved me back to the 4th floor. I had a heavy pack on the incision and waited 4 hours before I could get out of bed. It was not a difficult procedure. I guess I was more worred about what chemos that would be next on the agenda. Since I was still had a rash from the carbo on my back and chest they decided to leave me overnight .
Jan 29
I was examined by the cardiac nurse practicioner and my gyn onc this morning .They felt I was strong enough to go home . It helped that I wasn't nauseaus ( thank goodness for that.) There was a small discusion of cis-platin over a long infusion time ( up to 24 hours) or possibly doxil for my next round. I have time over the next two weeks to discuss the next steps with my doctors.
I am so pleased with the speed and concern with which my doctors Rodriguez, Nieves, Gibbon, and the treatment nurses Carla etc at CINJ reacted to my incident. Thanks to the RWJ Paramedics Dan and Jessica for the smooth - short ride to the hospital. The quick response of Drs DeMoss, Su and Burns to check out my heart. and lastly I also would like to thank the nurses on 4 North at Robert wood University Hospital for all their help and concern.
Every Day is a Blessing and I have most certainly been blessed these past few days.
LIVESTRONG
Dee
I will probably not post over the next few days- they are my very tired days. But I just wanted every one know that I was home and doing well.
Jan 27~
Thursday I arrived at 7:45 at CINJ for chemo number 2. They accessed my port and I went to see Doctor Gibbon. I was happy that my CA-125 was down to 18, white, red and platelets were good and the physical exam was good. Back I went to the treatment area . I started to use Emend to prevent the nausea I had last time and also used the other premeds. I got through my titrated taxol( 3 + hours) with no problems. Did the flush in between and started the carboplatin.Roughly halfway through the half hour dosage ~ 12 minutes, I felt light headed and flushed. ( This was my 11th carboplatin infusion and up to that point had no side effects.)I looked up out of chair number 1 ( which is right across from the nurses station) and said "Carla things are not right" .She ran over and immediately stopped the drip purged the line while the other nurses called the pharmacists and my doctor and the nurse practitioner. They gave me various IV drugs but I was still short of breath , had chest pressure and sharp pain in my chest by my sternum. They did an EKG that was abnormal so Dr Rodrgiuez took the results across the street to RWJUH and came back with the 2 cardiologists who thought it best to admit me.
So an ambulance was called around 3:15 and literally drove me across the street. I stayed in the emergency room until a bed on 4 north 6 opened up around 9:30 pm. Nick visited a short time and then alycia and Kevin stayed until I was in a room. Lucky for me that brought some food for me to eat. (Thanks guys.) While in the emergency room it was decided that I should have an cardiac catheteritization on Wednesday. They discussed the stress that the carbo played on my heart and the need to check if I had any blockages and also to check enzyme levels and how my muscle was functioning so I stayed overnight.
Jan 28
I slept good through the night and at 10:30 they moved me to the catheterization department. Dr Burns ran the test and found no blockages -HURRAH- with no need to isert any stents. The heart muscle looked good to him too. So after waiting a half hour with pressure on the femoral artery they moved me back to the 4th floor. I had a heavy pack on the incision and waited 4 hours before I could get out of bed. It was not a difficult procedure. I guess I was more worred about what chemos that would be next on the agenda. Since I was still had a rash from the carbo on my back and chest they decided to leave me overnight .
Jan 29
I was examined by the cardiac nurse practicioner and my gyn onc this morning .They felt I was strong enough to go home . It helped that I wasn't nauseaus ( thank goodness for that.) There was a small discusion of cis-platin over a long infusion time ( up to 24 hours) or possibly doxil for my next round. I have time over the next two weeks to discuss the next steps with my doctors.
I am so pleased with the speed and concern with which my doctors Rodriguez, Nieves, Gibbon, and the treatment nurses Carla etc at CINJ reacted to my incident. Thanks to the RWJ Paramedics Dan and Jessica for the smooth - short ride to the hospital. The quick response of Drs DeMoss, Su and Burns to check out my heart. and lastly I also would like to thank the nurses on 4 North at Robert wood University Hospital for all their help and concern.
Every Day is a Blessing and I have most certainly been blessed these past few days.
LIVESTRONG
Dee
I will probably not post over the next few days- they are my very tired days. But I just wanted every one know that I was home and doing well.
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