“The tumor has gone down, but…”

My doctor’s nurse called today with the results of the CT scan I had on Monday. She told me that indeed the tumor has gone down. When she told me the good news, I could hear hesitation in her voice. I was waiting for the “but.” I got what I anticipated when she added, “but they found a blood clot at the end of your port.” The nurse said they could not make the clot go away, rather just prevent it from getting bigger. So, I am on blood thinning medication now. She told me the potential problem is that the port wouldn’t work anymore because of the clot. In addition, the clot could break away and cause worse problems. She said the clot is small and the doctor is not worried about it - just something to monitor. Clotting at the end of ports is common, according to the nurse. This is where trust in your doctor comes in. I have decided to trust and not to worry too much.

This is a picture of a port.