Mom is having her picc line removed today. She is in Tulsa as an outpatient to have a power port inserted, which will deliver the chemo. The picc line, which has been in since her surgery, is more likely to cause infection, and indeed, it seemed to be start showing signs of infection on Tuesday. However, her blood draw Tuesday showed her white blood count to be almost non-existent. The oncologist has put her on antibiotics, as a preventative measure, and she will not be able to take her chemo next Tuesday if her white blood cells don't start multiplying.
Most days she does pretty well. This week she has been very fatigued. Because of her low immunity, she cannot be around people (not even family, like me & my girls), so cards have been especially lovely. Thanks so much for your prayers. You have shown a great outpouring of love, which is part of Mom's healing.
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Having a chemo Christmas!
Check this site to see how things are going. We will keep the info current. Please leave comments!
Having a chemo Christmas!
In remission
Thank you to everyone for your prayers & support. Mom sees the doctor every 3 months now. Cancer is rarely pronounced "cured" but we're hoping to hear those words some day...
Yippee, Mom is a survivor!
Yippee, Mom is a survivor!
Followers
Surgery results
Mom's surgery lasted 4 hours on Monday, October 20. The surgeon removed a tumor from her left ovary, a smaller one from her right ovary, and one from her uterus. The larger tumor on her ovary had ruptured, and they drained one and a half liters of fluid from her abdomen.
The surgeon said that although two tumors sounds scarier than one, the fact that they appear synchronous gives her a better prognosis. It is cancer, but they are not sure what kind. It will take many days for pathology to make a report, and they may need to call in specialists to conclusively determine the cancer's origin.
He removed some lymph nodes and fatty tissue beneath her stomach and intestine, but her other organs were not visibly affected and appeared healthy.
The surgeon said that although two tumors sounds scarier than one, the fact that they appear synchronous gives her a better prognosis. It is cancer, but they are not sure what kind. It will take many days for pathology to make a report, and they may need to call in specialists to conclusively determine the cancer's origin.
He removed some lymph nodes and fatty tissue beneath her stomach and intestine, but her other organs were not visibly affected and appeared healthy.
The way things began
Mom woke up Easter morning to get ready for church, and found she couldn't go to the bathroom. She went to the doctor, and was told she had bladder spasms. All of the focus was on her urinary system: uti's, maybe a bladder stone, bladder spasms. . .
The problems would arise and decline over the course of the summer. In August she developed a uti and wasn't feeling well at all. In fact, Labor Day weekend, she went to the emergency room and was catheterized. The urologist on call thought she was suffering from bladder spasms, but sent her home with the catheter, telling her to seek follow-up.
She went back to the office where she had had her routine physical the year before, and the p.a. who examined her thought she had a kink in the tube coming from her bladder. She referred her to a urologist who would likely be able to do a simple surgical procedure to correct the problem. Finally! Some answers!
However, when she saw the urologist, he found what he thought was a cyst on her left ovary. He ordered a CT scan and bloodwork, and referred her to a gynecologist.
The problems would arise and decline over the course of the summer. In August she developed a uti and wasn't feeling well at all. In fact, Labor Day weekend, she went to the emergency room and was catheterized. The urologist on call thought she was suffering from bladder spasms, but sent her home with the catheter, telling her to seek follow-up.
She went back to the office where she had had her routine physical the year before, and the p.a. who examined her thought she had a kink in the tube coming from her bladder. She referred her to a urologist who would likely be able to do a simple surgical procedure to correct the problem. Finally! Some answers!
However, when she saw the urologist, he found what he thought was a cyst on her left ovary. He ordered a CT scan and bloodwork, and referred her to a gynecologist.
1 comment:
Thinking of you. Talk to you soon. Love you lots!!!
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