Hi.
My mum starts her Chemo tomorrow.
She has been to the hospital the last 2 days to get the line put into her arm for the Chemo. Both times they were unable to get the end of the line in the correct position in her chest/shoulder.
So today they took it out after seeing if it had moved into position over night.Still no good.
So my question is how will she be able to have the chemo tomorrow if she has no line in for it? They did mention possibly an opperation?
Thanks.
Mark.
Mark,
If they haven’t been able to get the PICC line in then they will use a vein in her hand. They probably suggested a line if your mum’s veins were small. The chemo nurses are very experienced at doing this, although they may need to warm your mum’s hands to get the veins to stick out more, they sometimes need more than one attempt to get a good vein, but this is nothing to worry about.
The op they mentioned may be to fit a ‘portacath’, which goes in the chest near the collar bone, under the skin. They can then insert a needle into this to deliver the chemo. I think this is usually done under general anaesthetic.
Hope all goes well for your mum.
Jen
Hi Mark, I had problems getting the line put in as my veins were so small, I had the line nurse do I think it was a scan on my arm to see where my veins were, it was very uncomfortable but the line nurse persevered with me and managed it in the end. And I must add the chemo after that was so much easier, also I had to have a blood transfusion and because of the line this was easier too. Good luck to your mum, it is well worth it in the end, the nurses do a wonderful job. You sound like a very caring son, take care love junieliz x
Oh your poor mum, that’s additional stress I bet you could all do without! 
A Hickman Line is another alternative - I had mine put in under local anaesthetic.
I expect they will try with a cannula for your mum’s first chemo session in order to get things started and will then decide on which other type of line will be best for her.
Sounds like you are really looking after her! 
Nymeria x
Thanks everyone.
Mum had her first chemo today, through a line in her hand.
She still seems ok about everything. My dad is going with her to see “the wig lady” as she calls it, next week. Does everyone who has chemo loose their hair? The guy 2 doors along from me has just finished his chemo for liver cancer. He has not lost his hair, mind you he didnt have that much to loose in the first place !
Thanks.
Mark.
Hi Mark. Whether you lose your hair or not depends mainly on the type of chemo that is used, and they use different ones for different types of chemo. A very common chemo regime for breast cancer is FEC, and the E stands for Epirubicin. That’s particularly harsh on fast-growing cells, such as hair follicles, so almost all people who have FEC lose their hair. Anything that ends in -rubicin will have the same effect. For liver cancer they’d use a different lot of chemo, and that might not include one that takes your hair.
Oh ok thanks.