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Some of the chemotherapy regimens that we use for
patients with colon cancer require them to receive chemotherapy over the period
of two or three days at the time and that is where the role of port-a-cath becomes
really important. Let's talk about that.
Port-a-cath is a chemotherapy catheter that is as the name says, port means
portable, it is something that patient can go around, do their thing and you
know, does not have to worry about it, does not have to get it disconnected
every now and then. So, it is an easy intravenous access and that is the way
it helps us administer chemotherapy. A lot of patients with long or prolonged
chemotherapy regimens, their veins get burned and eventually, we lose that
IV access, so that is where the role of port-a-catheter comes in. As I said, it is
portable and I always tell patients they can go about their business, they can go
to work, they can even swim in the pool when its, you know, when the catheter is
protected adequately, they get teaching about how to protect their catheter and
it is something that can come off after the chemotherapy is completed. That is a
decision that has made between the patient and physician. Some patients like to
get rid of it as soon as the chemotherapy is completed. We usually like to keep it
in a little longer just to make sure that we don't need to do more chemotherapy,
but it can stay in from six months to six years and it is fairly easily maintained,
the
only thing is the patient needs to come once a month to get it washed and that is
about it.
For an interactive tool to learn more about your colon cancer and your
personalized treatment options, go to MyColonCancerCoach.org.