Well tomorrow I start a new chapter in my MG journey. At 8AM I am scheduled for surgery to have a dual port implanted into my chest.

This version unlike the more common single ports will have 2 ports in the one body that gets implanted under the skin in my chest. With this version each port has a separate catheter. One of the catheters will be threaded through an artery in the neck to a location at the heart, The other will go into a separate artery in the neck.

With this setup, I can get IVIG or any IV, have my blood drawn or use this setup for plasma exchange if needed. This apparently is a fairly new setup and surgery and is to be considered a long term implant, there is no plans to have the port and catheters removed unless they develop problems.

Right now I am dependent on IVIG every 8 weeks even after my first IVIG resulted in hemolysis. We changed brands from Gammunex which caused to hemolysis, to Gammagard which has been working great. For the first 2 IVIG series the veins in my arms were a mess, I look like I got beat up. For the last IVIG I had a PICC line put in temporarily which worked great.

So I guess part of the solution for MG is have some plumbing installed LOL ... Sorry I have to keep my humor up tonight as I fear this surgery in just a handful of hours. I'll be glad to have this behind me.

Joe

Will you have to access, flush and heparinize both lumens every 30 days? I don't particularly enjoy accessing mine and would not be happy to know I had to do twice the sticks.

I hope your surgery goes well and you get a lot of good use from your device!

Good luck Joe. My thoughts and prayers are with you. I hope this makes your treatment easier and I am glad IVIG works for you.

kathie

Thanks Kathie and 4 eyes. The surgery went well. I was given general anesthesia and intubated to protect the airway. This was mostly a precaution with MG as they can often do this surgery with milder sedation.

All went well with the procedure, I have the dual lumen port in my upper right chest with one catheter threaded through my subclavain artery to right next to the heart. This is anchored in place with an aortic stent. The second catheter has been placed in my jugular vein. The port itself has been anchored to my upper ribcage with 4 screws, this is to prevent migration or rotation of the port body over a long period of time.

This type of surgery is a bit different than the typical port setup. This port is made from titanium has 2 lumens (made by Navilyst) but instead of one catheter, has 2 catheters one for each lumen and they are isolated from each other. This is so this setup can be used for IVIG, IV's or plasmapheresis. The additon of an aortic stent is to keep the catheter from moving around too much inside the aorta resulting in arterial irritation. The stent has a simple mount for the catheter that allows for the replacement of the catheter if needed.

Overall this is a fairly new type of port setup that is designed to be kept in for the long term, but certainly can have the components replaced if needed. The estimate is that if the ports are maintained with the proper flushing shecdule that this could remain in place for up to 20 years.

The reason this was developed was to provide for a longer term solution than is typically found in ports commonly used for chemotherapy patients which typically keep their ports for 5 years or less. In patientls like us, the need to keep the ports for 15+ years is more common

Overall I'm healing well and taking a few days off of work. Its still pretty sore. I have my next IVIG in another month and it will good to have this as an option. My veins are shot. For the surgery it took 2 nurse 20 minutes to get a vein and working IV for the surgery itself.

Im glad thats over.....the MG journey continues

Take care & thanks

Joe