Hi all
Is there anyone else out there who has had their Chemo leak into the skin instead of going into the vain. Had my 7th dose of tax yesterday, 1 more to go and was getting really excited that it was all going so well apart from really bad feet.
When the nurse came to take the needle out she said there was a big problem that the needle wasnt inserted correctly and some of the chemo had leaked into the skin. A doctor was called and i had to go to another hospital to see a Plastic Surgeon, by this time was completley overwhelmed to say the least. So far they have said all is ok had to go back to the hopital this morning to see onc. She said so far it all looks ok but if i have any changes in the area i.e pain or redness i must go straight to A&E. God im so feed up and very worried. Im so afraid the same thing will happen next week as the nurses have told me that my vains are becoming very hard and closing down after having so much chemo. 4 FEC and 8 TAX.
After all this hopefully 6 weeks of rads will be a breeze LOL.
Best wishes to all
Lynne x
Not happened to me, Lynne, but I thought I’d send a big hug - it sounds very scary.
Lynne, as far as I know this is much more of a problem with the chemo drug Epirubicin, which can do a lot more damage than Tax. You are right to keep an eye on it for redness etc, and hopefully you will be ok.
As far as your veins are concerned, don’t worry - the chemo nurses will find a way of giving you your chemo drugs come hell or high water! I had a PICC line (a permanent line into my vein) because my veins were so good at hiding, but when the PICC line failed after 5 sessions, the nurses still managed to find a vein in my hand each time and I got the full course of treatment.
You could still ask for a PICC line or a Hickman line for your last few doses, though I’d say just trust the nurses as they will find the veins for you.
Much love, take care and I hope the skin heals ok.
hi Lynne
so sorry to hear what happened to you
I’ll never get upset with any digging around the nurse do again!
hope the last one goes very well for you - just imagine - nearly all over!!! can;t wait myself!
love FB xxxxxxxxx
Hi to you all
Thanks so much for replying. All is still well at the moment, got a bit worried last night when my arm got very itchy but all seems to have settled down again.
Last dose of chemo next Thursday, cant wait for it all to be over. Just 6 weeks of rads to get through but i hear thats nothing like chemo. Thank god.
Love and best wishes to you all.
Lynne x
Hi, I posted a long reply to this last night - only to have it disappear…
My chemo nurses told me they see about two cases a year where this happens and it happened twice to me! I saw the plastic surgeon both times and on the second occasion, they injected a local all around the area and flushed it through with saline. I had to keep my arm up overnight and was told to contact the hospital immediately if I noticed any change. If you haven’t noticed any worsening of the area by now, I think it will probably be OK.
Jenny
I also had this happen with my first and only infusion of taxotere. About 5 days after the infusion a huge red burn mark came up on my hand, around the area that the cannula had been inserted. I was advised by my BN that it was ‘probably leakage’ and that i should contact them if it got worse. It did swell up a little but then just stayed the same - it looked like I had burnt it on the iron or something. it was still there when I went for next chemo - so they had to use the inside of my arm for infusion (with diff chemo cos taxtere was stopped for other reasons) Now - nearly 5 wks later the mark has just about faded.
Hi Jenny & Magz
Nothing seems to hve happend yet so im hping that nothing will. The hospital told me to take ibuprofen every 8 hours to stop any swelling but they seem to be giving me terrible stomach ache. As nothing has happened i think i will stop taking them
Thanks for all your advice. I dont use the site very much but all the information i gt is very helpfull as living here in Spain they dont tell you very much.
Thanks again
Lynne
Hi Lynne,I had chemo leak into my hand from vein on my 2nd epi…wondered what was going on the nurses,docs were rushing about in a panic,i felt my hand swelling up and they realised it wasnt put in properly,think its called extravasion.Didnt have anything flushed through,which makes be think perhaps that should have been done at the time,the nurse was so upset…i calmed her down,Had to have this white liquid,cant remember its name but it stunk of garlic,it was horrid dripped on my hand a few times a day for ages,(was supplied with needles to drip it on with)didnt need plastic surgery but my hand will always be scarred red and when its hot it can be really itchy,main thing i can use it and tendons were not damaged…eeee eck as if chemo isnt bad enough …wishing you the best of luck best wishes Debrax