Update 6-26-10

I know that you all may be curious as to what is going on and how Mom’s doctor’s visit went…

I don’t enjoy delivering bad news, but the doctor did not have good things to tell us on Wednesday. If mom were to have any more chemo at this point, it would do more harm than good and potentially be lethal. Her hemoglobin (blood supply in her body) over the week has plummeted from 9.0 to 5.9, and a normal person like us should be at minimum 12.0. So the doctor said with her blood supply so low, as well as her platelets (blood clotting in your body), any chemo treatment might lower her blood counts and may cause a stroke. We were saddened by the news, but were prepared going in, that this most likely would be the outcome.

We signed her up for Hospice, as we want to make her as comfortable as possible. The first step to allow her more comfort is draining more of the fluid in her stomach and legs. Rather than go to the hospital for draining each week, we decided to have a catheter placed in her abdomen. This will allow us to drain the fluid at home and more often, when she starts to get uncomfortable. The procedure was this past Thursday.

The procedure went well, however, we all know things don’t ever go according to plan. After the procedure was complete, the doctor came out to talk with me and let me know it went according to plan. When they were draining the fluid, there was blood draining as well. This is not what we wanted to hear and the doctor told me it was probably due to the cirrhosis in her liver. Her liver and spleen are not filtering the blood, due to the scarring of the liver, thus all the blood is diverting to her stomach. This really shook us up. The draining had some blood return as it was drained, and her hemoglobin was low, so dad and I decided to go ahead with a blood transfusion. We understood that giving her blood would not raise her blood levels, but at least it would give her a little bit of energy and color in her face.

So after the catheter procedure, they cross matched her blood type and then took her up to a private room for the blood transfusion. She received two bags, with each bag taking a minimum of 3 hours. By the time we were done and discharged, it was 2:30 in the morning. Quite a day and night, at the hospital, beginning at 11:00 AM! Her night was rough, but worth it, because the next morning she had more color in her face and seemed to have perked up in attitude.

Ending on good note, the past few days mom has been awake a lot more and holding good conversations. Mom still has her sleeping episodes during the day, but wants to get up and move around more. She still has her sense of humor. Long story short, she had a fall the other day and her and my dad always joke that she is pregnant due to her swollen stomach. Well after the fall she looked up at my dad and said, “Oh, I hope I didn’t hurt the babies!” Guess you had to be there but my dad and I just cracked up.

That is all for now. We greatly appreciate your prayers.

New Blog

Hello to all, it is about that time for me to start a blog for my mom! You will have to forgive my writing skills as my brother is the English buff in the family.

As some of you know she has had some hard times lately after our move to St. Louis. We have officially been here 3 weeks and are quite cozy in our two bedroom apartment located in Lake St. Louis. Her first chemo was right after the move and didn't seem to fair well with her. The night of her treatment landed her in the hospital as she was running a fever of 104 deg. After a couple of days she was out of the hospital and glad to be home.

Skip forward to last Thursday when she had to go in to have her stomach drained, as it was so filled up with fluid it looked as if she were 9 months pregnant! The fluid had started in her feet then slowly started filling up into her legs and stomach. Her discomfort in her stomach was to the extent that she wanted to try and get it drained even if the fluid reoccured as we were told it most likely would. After getting her home on Thursday she was pretty drained (excuse the pun!). Since then she has had a hard time keeping her eyes open and sleeps a good majority of the day. She has done well the past few days, however, and has been up and around more. When she is up it is an effort for her to walk but she is determined to do things on her own!

Every Wednesday we go in to track the status of her liver enzymes and blood work. We see the doctor tomorrow to determine if she will be able to go another round on this chemo or if hospice is a more realistic route to go. So my next post will let you all know where we stand and how the survivor is doing.