Hi! I’m a nurse and I totally recommend the Mediport. I’ve been in remission for 3 years Thanks to God and I still have my Mediport. Receiving chemo thru your arm veins is extremely caustic to the veins and they often become scarred and shut down. Not to mention how painful it is to be poked a bunch and to have caustic chemo put thru which often burns. Heck I could feel a mild burning feeling when it was infused into Mediport I can’t imagine how it would feel on a little vein. This is just my own personal opinion as a nurse. If you do get the Mediport only let your cancer nurses or doctor use it. For example if you go in the Er don’t let them use it, if you go in the hospital don’t let them use it to. The Chemo nurses take great care to keep it sterile and not introduce any germs. At the Er or hospital you will run into new nurses who aren’t necessarily that good like the Chemo nurses. Anyone reading this what I say here stays here. I don’t want to get in trouble by my employer if they were to hear I said this on here. Not that they probably would but you never know. Anyhow, so knock on wood I’ve had no trouble with my Mediport and most people don’t. I don’t let anyone touch my Mediport except for the Chemo nurses though. I do not want Sepsis- a blood infection do to bacteria getting in the blood stream.
Like I said though don’t tell anyone I gave this advice not even your Doctor. Trust me we nurses really know what’s going on and what works. Good Luck!

Almost no medical staff outside of an oncology setting will use a port. Even if you beg them they say they aren't allowed due to the reasons Sharon mentioned above. They are simply not trained to use them properly. The exception would be in cases where your oncology team specifically approves the use for situations when you need repeated iv access, or in an emergency. If someone tries to use your port other than for cancer treatment I'd actually recommend asking them why, coz they shouldn't be touching it. Obviously if it's been inserted for another chronic issue the same logic applies.

Dr. K xx

I recommend the port. It makes things easier and you dont want to pause chemo for potential problems with your veins. Once in you can hardly see it. After caregiving for my mom who had to get a PICC line, it was a no brainer for me and i liked having it.

Hi Kelly5 - Yes, yes, yes! A port is the way to go for many health issues and especially if you are having chemo. Mine was inserted in March of 2022 (outpatient and painless procedure since was sedated) at the beginning of starting my chemo, and it is still in place even though it has not been used for chemo since July of 2022. I plan to keep it in for as long as there are no problems with it since with OC you never know when/if you will need it again. The only thing I need to do is to have it flushed every so often. I have mine done every three months and it takes all of a 15 minute process (no pain involved except a quick prick) but oh so worth it.❤️

@A MyOvarianCancerTeam Member - I was diagnosed last year (Feb. 2025) with stage 3C HGSC and was not hesitant to getting the port right away. My Dad died from Multiple Myeloma in 2004 & he had a port so I remember his experience so it was a no brainer for me. There is no maintenance or caring for it on your end. Mine is pretty bothersome cuz of placement & not having any body fat to surround it but other then that I don’t even know it’s there until it’s
infusion day. I ended up having 6 chemo treatments every 3 weeks, then surgery and then another 6 chemo treatments. I can remember about 2 times where the port site was a little bruised after 7 hrs of treatment each time. I am now on The Avastin maintenance every 3 weeks, about 1.5 hrs each, been using the port for a little over a year now, still no issues and my veins can be used for iv’s, blood draws, etc. Each person has their own preference & reasons to get something or not so go with what you are comfortable with.

Mentioned Users

A MyOvari...