Corinne is extremely squeamish about blood. With her hatred of needles, this has been a particular hell for her. She made a quick, easy choice to have the Groshong catheter inserted through her chest into her vena cava, which carries blood – and other injected goodies – directly into her heart. The surgery left two tubes hanging from a hole that never seemed to fully heal.

One of the tough choices to make is how long to keep the tubes. While we are told that removal is a simple office procedure, what if she should need it again? Of course we are always worried that the cancer will return. And there will be years of regular cancer check-ups with requisite blood drawing. And the hospital billed a shocking $12,500 (not including the surgeon and anesthesiologist charges) for the half-day procedure to surgically insert the catheter.

She still hasn't decided how long to keep this thing. For a while though.