[joefnh]

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