The Princess of Wales has shared her experience of her “really tough” chemotherapy, which she revealed was delivered via a “port” to which she became rather attached. Kate visited the Royal Marsden Hospital in Chelsea, west London, to thank staff for her care and offer support to fellow patients as it was disclosed she was treated at the state-of-the-art institution.
Talking to Katherine Field, 45, who was wearing a cold cap during her chemotherapy to preserve her hair, the princess gestured to her own arm and chest to discuss the port mechanism used to deliver the drugs. “I got so attached to it,” the princess said, joking she had hesitated when finally told “you can have it taken out” now.
An implanted port – also known as a portacath – is a small device inserted under the skin which is kept in place until treatment finishes. It attaches to a long thin tube which goes into a vein close to the heart or sometimes in the arm. Medicine is given using a special needle inserted into the device through the skin, but this is not painful.
The port can be felt under the skin or a small bump seen, but patients can go home with a portacath in place, and it avoids the need to have needles in the arm during each course of treatment. Kate, who is now joint patron of the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust with the Prince of Wales, is not thought to have used a cold cap to preserve her hair.
