Hi everyone.
Just wanted to let you know what is going on with mom.
She got sick on Friday, having really bad stomach pains. Started throwing up Friday evening, threw up pretty much every 2 hours till Saturday morning. She called the doctor Saturday, they told her to do the normal severe nausea stuff (Bananas, Applesauce, dy toast) and see how she was doing.
This morning, they called the doctor (oncologist) again because she still couldn't hold anything down. She hasnt been able to take her Chemo meds since Thursday, because she can't keep anything down.The doctor put her back in the hospital. She is once again very dehydrated, with a dangerously low potassium level.
I was still there when the surgeon came in. He said that it appears she has another obstruction, this time in her small intestine. We don't kow at this time if it is a tumor or a blockage. They are going to try to get rid of the blockage by using medications, and do a small bowel infusion (? I don't know if that's the right term) to try and determine how severly blocked she is. He doesn't want to do surgery unless it is absolutely necessary becuase she just had such a major surgery a few weeks ago. Also, the chemo meds she is currently on inhibit blood vessels from growing, so that's another complication for potential surgery.
Please keep our family in your prayers. I will update you again as soon as I have anything. Please forward this to any family members I missed, too. Thank you.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Update on Mom/Donna (originally posted 2/4/2009)
So, for the family, and my friends who have been asking, here's the latest update on Mom.
The surgery went as well as we could have hoped for, based on what they found.
The problem was in her sigmoid colon (the part that leads directly to the rectum), it was very constricted. It turned out there was a large tumor growing around that part, which explains the constriction.
Also, the doctors found that the cancer has spread some more. There are now 11 tumors on her liver, where 2 years ago there were 2. There is a tumor growing on the back side of the bladder, and another deep in her pelvis. They chose not to remove any of the other spots because they could not reach everything down in her pelvis, and if they do not remove the entire tumor, it will grow back faster and bigger than it was originally.
OK, now some good news.
The pathology report so far shows that the tumors are all carcinoid tumors, which makes perfect sense, because she has carcinoid syndrome. This is good, because it means that even though the cancer is spreading, it is not growing more malignant.
Also, they were able to connect the remaining part of the colon to the rectum, so...no colostomy bag! The surgeon did say that when the cancer causes another problem like the one she had, there probably won't be an option, she will almost definitely have a colostomy bag at that point. But, that should be a couple of years down the road.
So for right now, they are discussing options. Obviously, the treatment course they have been pursuing hasn't been working. They are discussing the ideas of chemotherapy, possible radiation, experimental treatments, etc. Once they have decided on a course of action, I will let everyone know.
For now, we really are appreciating everyone's prayers. This has frankly been one of the most difficult things we have ever gone through, and we would not be able to be holding together without everyone's love and support. And it's not over, its a very long road. Please continue to hold our family in your prayers, becuase we are all struggling.
Thanks.
The surgery went as well as we could have hoped for, based on what they found.
The problem was in her sigmoid colon (the part that leads directly to the rectum), it was very constricted. It turned out there was a large tumor growing around that part, which explains the constriction.
Also, the doctors found that the cancer has spread some more. There are now 11 tumors on her liver, where 2 years ago there were 2. There is a tumor growing on the back side of the bladder, and another deep in her pelvis. They chose not to remove any of the other spots because they could not reach everything down in her pelvis, and if they do not remove the entire tumor, it will grow back faster and bigger than it was originally.
OK, now some good news.
The pathology report so far shows that the tumors are all carcinoid tumors, which makes perfect sense, because she has carcinoid syndrome. This is good, because it means that even though the cancer is spreading, it is not growing more malignant.
Also, they were able to connect the remaining part of the colon to the rectum, so...no colostomy bag! The surgeon did say that when the cancer causes another problem like the one she had, there probably won't be an option, she will almost definitely have a colostomy bag at that point. But, that should be a couple of years down the road.
So for right now, they are discussing options. Obviously, the treatment course they have been pursuing hasn't been working. They are discussing the ideas of chemotherapy, possible radiation, experimental treatments, etc. Once they have decided on a course of action, I will let everyone know.
For now, we really are appreciating everyone's prayers. This has frankly been one of the most difficult things we have ever gone through, and we would not be able to be holding together without everyone's love and support. And it's not over, its a very long road. Please continue to hold our family in your prayers, becuase we are all struggling.
Thanks.
The Beginning (originally posted 1/30/09)
Hey yall, I wanted to let you know what's going on with Mom (Donna).
She's really been pretty sick since Christmas, hasn't really been able to eat much at all. We thought she finally got better just after New Year's, because she was feeling better. This week has been pretty hard though.
She's been having severe pain every time she eats, feeling like her stomach is on fire, and its been getting worse instead of better. Her oncologist wanted to do a CT scan on her, but the insurance threw a total fit about it, so they had to do the whole pre-authorization thing. Well, in the meantime, she was getting worse, vomiting every time she ate anything.
So on Wednesday, the oncologist finally told her he couldn't really do anything else, other than put her in the hospital. By this point, she was ready to go to the hospital. So they admitted her.
They have done the CT scan, she has a massive infection in the half of her large intestine that she still has. She is on IV antibiotics (2 kinds) for at least a week, then they will re-evaluate. She may go a second week, or a third week, or a fourth week. The other option is to remove the rest of her large intestine, which she would really like to avoid.
This morning they attempted to do a colonoscopy, but were unable to do so, and had to settle for XRays of the area. So the surgeons and oncologist and GI doctors are consulting to decide if we should move the surgery up on the options list.
Pray for her, that the antibiotics will take care of everything. That she doesn't need surgery. Or that, if she does need the surgery, this will just fix everything. It's been a really stressful week, and month. And I don't live with it every day.
Pray for my dad, he is having a hard time with all this, as would any of us who had a spouse going through all this. I'll keep updating
She's really been pretty sick since Christmas, hasn't really been able to eat much at all. We thought she finally got better just after New Year's, because she was feeling better. This week has been pretty hard though.
She's been having severe pain every time she eats, feeling like her stomach is on fire, and its been getting worse instead of better. Her oncologist wanted to do a CT scan on her, but the insurance threw a total fit about it, so they had to do the whole pre-authorization thing. Well, in the meantime, she was getting worse, vomiting every time she ate anything.
So on Wednesday, the oncologist finally told her he couldn't really do anything else, other than put her in the hospital. By this point, she was ready to go to the hospital. So they admitted her.
They have done the CT scan, she has a massive infection in the half of her large intestine that she still has. She is on IV antibiotics (2 kinds) for at least a week, then they will re-evaluate. She may go a second week, or a third week, or a fourth week. The other option is to remove the rest of her large intestine, which she would really like to avoid.
This morning they attempted to do a colonoscopy, but were unable to do so, and had to settle for XRays of the area. So the surgeons and oncologist and GI doctors are consulting to decide if we should move the surgery up on the options list.
Pray for her, that the antibiotics will take care of everything. That she doesn't need surgery. Or that, if she does need the surgery, this will just fix everything. It's been a really stressful week, and month. And I don't live with it every day.
Pray for my dad, he is having a hard time with all this, as would any of us who had a spouse going through all this. I'll keep updating
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