One of the steps you have to take before starting chemo is to get a port installed. A port is different than an IV in that it's semi-permanent instead of getting one put in and taking it out each time it's needed. My understanding of this is that the chemicals I'm about to get are caustic and can burn out my IV lines so a port is generally recommended to keep the injection sites healthier.

I had my port put in at The Angeles Clinic in West LA. It's my third time going there since all this started and I was kind of shocked it existed the first time I went for a CT scan of my lungs prior to the initial surgery that got rid of Donald.

The clinic is affiliated with Cedars, but not actually part of it and is dedicated to diagnosing and treating cancer. Super nice facility and staff and I believe you can get all your treatment done there if you want, but I'm not sure if it's in-network for any insurance company. It was not for my BCBS variant.

Upon checking in they took me back to a room where I took off my shirt and put on a hospital gown to get ready. Then they took a blood sample (I believe this was for the doctor doing my chemo to get a baseline prior to that treatment starting tomorrow), my blood pressure and blood oxygen. All fairly standard stuff.

Then they wheeled me in to the operating room, and once everything was set up and ready they hit me with some sleepy meds. I wasn't fully asleep during the procedure, which lasted 45 minutes, but in a "twilight" state where I was just kind of in my own world.

I honestly may have forgotten that all this was happening because I was just thinking about other stuff and the local anesthesia was doing a good enough job that I wasn't feeling anything.

After the procedure I got wheeled back into the room I started with and 15 minutes later I was out the door of the clinic. Pretty smooth process.

They did go over some notes prior to the surgery though about possibly risks. The first was possible bruising should I bleed more anticipated which did not seem like it happened. There would have been no long term risks from this regardless, but they have to tell you. The second is that 1% of ports can get infected if not maintained/utilized properly. Not something they'd expect to happen, but just want to emphasize how important it is to take care of it. Usually only nurses who are trained in using ports will ever actually touch it as well so the risk truly is minimal.

Lying in the bed waiting for the procedure to start was a little rough. The last few weeks since my big surgery I'd mostly felt normal and healthy. I knew the chemo would be starting from a practical standpoint, but emotionally it was the first time it really hit that it was here.

Chemo starts tomorrow though, so I need to be ready one way or another.

Edit: Oh man my left shoulder/upper chest is sore. Not like, panicky sore but just more what I would have expected originally but was deceived by being on pain meds. I was told I could take Tylenol though so that may be in the cards.