Discussion of the Portable Pump

Wednesday December 11, 1991

Up at 7 a.m. to get ready to go to Kaiser Sunset Hollywood Clinic to meet with a team of doctors to discuss the pump. Dr. Senarad doesn't think I'm a good candidate because he has nothing to measure how well it is doing. My cancer does not show up in a CT scan. He suggests I have another CT and if there are visible tumors now he will reconsider.

We stop for lunch and then go to Woodland Hills Kaiser where I make an appointment for a CT for Christmas Eve and I have a mammogram.

I have a talk with the head of Oncology. I state my case against Dr. Bix and request Dr. Schultz. She will look into it and call me tomorrow. It's been 8 days since Dr. Bix said I'll call you tomorrow through Dr. Russack.

We go to the movies to see "Hook" and eat out--tacos.

The use of a portable pump and port-a-cath allows medication to be given over several days in the home rather than as a patient in the hospital. The port-a-cath is placed under the skin on the chest as shown in the above illustration. The catheter is then inserted into the superior vena cava vessel at the entrance to the right atrium of the heart.

It's been 20 years since Mom had her CT scans. Imaging techniques have improved and lower doses of radiation are needed for the images. It's a shame that her tumors did not show up on the CT scans in 1991 even though they saw them when she had surgery.