Hi, Lisa,
I was thinking of people like you when I wrote up this document
https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/resources/short-stages-from-lisbon-to-porto.133/
It sort of goes along with the forum guide, which is here:
https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/resources/camino-portugués-lisbon-porto-2017.517/
It is slightly out of date now, well maybe a bit more than slightly, because there are new places popping up all the time. Here is what I would suggest. For your first day, walk to the albergue in Alpriate. It has been in operation for a year, is right on the Camino, 20 km from the cathedral, and a great first stop. From there, the hospitalero/a will be able to help you with stage planning. I don't think there's any need to have your stages planned out, but having a good list of albergues and distances will be very helpful.
There are a lot of threads on this topic, which you can find with a little searching -- here is a recent one:
https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/camino-portuguese-from-lisbon-to-porto.50423/
Just last week, we got word of a new albergue before Porto, see this thread
https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/new-albergue-at-caminho-portugues.50397/
When you said you were scheduled to "rave home" I think you meant "leave home", and if that's the case, you are really getting down to the wire, close to departure time. Wishing you a great Caminho, and if you happen to use the forum guide and find any updates or corrections are needed, let me know. If enough people write back with suggestions, I will update the guide this winter. Bom caminho, Laurie