Do you need a port when there's no storm in the forecast?

I've been given another clean bill of health this afternoon!  Dr. Scott wonders where he went wrong thinking I would be a very sick man by now.  Now that's glass-half-empty thinking! He's now giving me another 3 months of doctor-free living before the next scan and if that one comes out clean too, he's going to recommend that the port be removed. Those 3 months will also mark the end of a full year since chemo ended.

A port is really no trouble except that you have to have them flushed out every six weeks so that they don't clog up. That means a trip to the cancer center.  It is really nice to have a port if you are going to undergo chemo and they are also pretty sweet as an alternative to an arm poke I.V. when you have a scan done.  The scanner technicians push the dye activator pretty fast and the fluids feel much more comfortable going into a great big receptacle on your chest than that very soft, sensitive flesh at the arm joint.

A port is also a physical reminder of cancer and cancer treatment.  I've got scars, a bald head, small stomach, tingly extremities and skinnier frame that also remind me on a regular basis, but the port is this artificial appendage that specifically speaks to the potential of more chemotherapy.  It would be nice to feel like I am completely done with that phase.

On the other hand, if the cancer did come back would I be given chemo again?  Would I be given a choice? I tend to think that I lived through it once and I could live through it again.  I really enjoy being alive and I know how good it feels to come out healthy on the other side. If I did have to go through chemo again I would surely want the port.  Should I tempt fate?

I've got one more scan and three months to think about it.  I can't help remembering that every single tube ever placed inside of me felt like an important crutch and I feared having them removed but in every situation my quality of life improved dramatically after they were pulled out. The port is the least intrusive of these and I'm not sure how much more room I have for improving the quality of my life anymore.  It's pretty damned good already.