This is a mediport. It is implanted beneath the skin in the chest and runs through the subclavian vein. The tip of the catheter lies in the right atrium of the heart. This is the device that helped deliver the seven different chemotherapy drugs that are both deadly toxic, and life saving at the same time. This port saved her hundreds of peripheral IV sticks, and who knows what ever else may come with that. This has been a part of this little girl’s body for most of her life. Today we were able to have it removed. This is the day we have been waiting and hoping for, for a very long time.
Emmy was less than thrilled. When she woke up from her too many to count propofol nap, she was very upset that her port was no longer in her chest. I had no idea that a just turned two-year-old could even understand this concept, but she was mad. After the anesthesia wore off though, it was a long lost memory.
For the last 21 months, I had always imagined this thing to be a yellow circle, probably because that is what I always practiced on in nursing school.
Turns out it was a Purple Heart. I should have known.
