Only Five More!

Just talked to mom.  She is doing great!  She drove herself to radiation this morning!  I know she is glad to have that little freedom back.  She saw the radiologist doctor this morning and he said only 5 more radiation treatments to the hip area.  She will complete those this week.

I will update as she sees all the doctors this week.  Her sister is coming in this evening to stay with her for a bit.  I know she will enjoy the company.  For some reason when I and my entourage (3 boys, 3 and under) go over it is just not relaxing. :)  We have to make our visits short and sweet! 

Love,
Jo

Home Again!

Mom called yesterday morning around 11:30 and said there was a chance she might get to go home - by 1:30 we were headed back to Canyon!  She is feeling good and enjoying the sunshine again!  Rachel headed up this way from Lubbock and we spent yesterday afternoon and evening getting mom settled back into the house. 

She will start radiation again on Monday and has five doctors appointments next week with her General Physician, Lung Doctor, Surgeon, Radiation Doctor, and Oncologist!  That is a lot of people looking after her. 

She is getting around pretty well, but there are things she will not be able to do for a while such as wash dishes and clean house.  Rach and I have been figuring out the logistics of everything.

Thanks for all of the visits, prayers, food, and love.  On to the next phase of this adventure!

Jo

Wednesday Morning

Another Wednesday in the hospital!  Mom is doing well, it just takes time to heal.  The doctor was in this morning and said maybe a Friday or weekend release date.  They are just waiting on her blood levels to get normal and for her wound to quit draining so much.

All in all she received 6 units of blood these past couple of weeks, so getting the levels back to normal has taken a bit of time.  It has also taken time to replenish her system after she came in so dehydrated and malnourished from being sick.  She has been keeping down solid foods so that is a huge blessing!

Thanks so much to the people who have been visiting her in the hospital - it has really brightened her long days!  This week I have made a couple of trips up there, but with three little ones in tow it is always a quick trip!  Funny story, mom had a potty chair in her room since she was hooked up to so many cords.  Ryan saw it and asked me later if it sang to her after she went,  like his Elmo potty does.  I said probably not and he said, that is too bad it would make her happy!

I will keep you posted as things move along.  I am guessing she will begin radiation next week after she is out and she has an appointment with her oncologist on Thursday of next week to discuss the sutent and when to start back up on that.

Love,
Jo

Monday Morning

Mom is still holding up the walls of Northwest Texas Hospital!  She is improving each day, it is just a slow process.  Her blood levels are all out of whack, so they have been giving her nutrients, lasiks, potassium, you name it it has been shot into her.  She is feeling better each day and each day provides new milestones.  Yesterday she was able to intake solid food and keep it down!  This has not happened in a couple of weeks so yeah!

She has been up and about and walking the halls.  I think we are all expecting a departure about Wednesday or Thursday.  A couple of days to get her blood levels back and make sure she can keep down solid foods.

Thanks for all your prayers!

Jo

Friday Morning

Mom is doing much better this morning.  She said last night out of the three surgeries this was by far the worst of the bunch.  This was also the most "real" of the surgeries with a huge incision and not just laproscopic!  She is feeling better this morning and not in as much pain.  Rachel and her have already talked to the surgeon this morning and she should be getting rid of some of the tubes today and tomorrow.  He would like to see her up a couple of times today, but mom looked at him like he was crazy so not sure if that is going to happen!

We are so blessed to have one of Rachel's best friends as mom's charge nurse for many of these days in the hospital.  It is so nice to have a familiar face and know that someone is on your side of the conversations with some of these doctors!  We love you Kaci!

I think we are looking at mid week next week for departure from the hospital.  Thanks for all of your prayers and support!

Joanna

Mom is back in her room and ornery as ever! Will update in the morning, but morphine button is her new best friend.

Thursday Morning

Mom will have surgery on the hernia spot this afternoon around 3:00.  It will be a regular surgery - completely under - again.  She is up and about and eating normal food, so that is good!  I will update the blog when she comes out and to let you know how the surgery went.  She should be in the hospital for a couple of more days.

Joanna

Wednesday Morning

I just spoke to Rachel who was up at the hospital bright and early this morning!  The kidney doctor came in and it is a hernia where her kidney use to be.  Not surprising since she has been coughing a lot since her surgery.  He is recommending surgery on it in the next day or two.  The surgeon who did her gall bladder will do this one.  We are now waiting on him and getting confirmation from him that this is what she should do.

The CT scan was clear for a blood clot in the lungs so that is good news!

Another note of good news - they did a CT scan of her lungs last week at the Oncologist and it shows that the sutent (chemo pill) is reducing those spots on her lungs!  Yeah!

So a couple of more days in the hospital.  She is up and walking around and eating normal food again, so that is progress!  She is hoping to start radiation again on Monday.

Love,
Jo

Tuesday

I just got back from the hospital checking on mom.  She is doing pretty well.  She has gotten up and walked the halls a bit with a walker.  It really helps her out because her hip is still hurting pretty badly.  The area where her gall bladder was taken out is doing pretty good.  Now the area where her kidney was taken out two months ago is another story!  It started hurting before the gall bladder surgery and these past two days has swelled up and turned red.  They did a ultrasound on it yesterday and saw that it was a pocket of fluid and maybe a small hernia.  Her kidney doctor ordered a CT scan on it for this afternoon and he will look at the results and see her today or early tomorrow.   Her main doctor came in just before I left and said her heart rate was a little elevated since the surgery - so she is also going to have a CT scan of her lungs to rule out a blood clot.  Cancer patients are more susceptible to those.  She will have that this afternoon as well.

So long story short - still in hospital - waiting on scans and doctors....as usual!

Joanna

Monday

Mom is doing really well!  Much better than the last surgery.  She had to receive three units of blood yesterday because of the extra bleeding with the scar tissue near the liver - but this morning she says she feels like a new woman!  She made a comment yesterday that maybe this new blood would make her nicer and maybe it was coming from a nice person!  I told her it would take more than that to make her nice!

She has not been able to get up out of bed yet and move around because of receiving the blood - so probably later today.

It sounds like she is feeling so much better already with that "sack of marbles" or gall bladder out.  The doctor said it was like a sack of marbles!  Crazy!

Mom is doing great and is in really good spirits.  She is calling her radiologist today to see when she can get back to receiving treatment on her hip - the more consistent in days with it you are the better.

Thanks for all of your support and prayers!

Joanna

Gall Bladder Gone!

Mom had her gb out this morning at 8. The surgery lasted a little longer than expected because of some scar tissue by the liver. They were able to do it lapriscopically. She is in recovery now. She should be in the hospital a few more days and out by mid-week.

Joanna

Gall bladder will be coming out tomorrow morning at 8:00. Now just waiting. We are at Northwest Texas hospital in Amarillo. Will keep you updated! Jo

I am going to quit updating...

I am going to quit updating this blog because every time I do, something else happens!  This morning Rachel took mom to radiation and they spoke to the nurses/doctors.  They decided to send her to the hospital ER to get her hydrated and to take out that darn gall bladder!  Even though the doctor had said he wanted to treat the cancer first, I think this pain and side effects were counter productive to that!  So right now they are in the ER getting fluids and waiting to be admitted.  I am assuming they will do surgery this evening or tomorrow morning, depending on her fluid levels......then I expect a couple of days in the hospital...but I will let you know.

Jo

Half-Way Through Radiation!

Mom is half-way through her radiation treatment as of Wednesday.  She is going through three weeks of treatment to her hip area.  She is off her sutent (cancer pill) right now until the next round starts next Thursday.  So a little 14 day break from that.  She has been having extreme stomach pain and they did a CT scan for it and say everything looks good except for the gall bladder.  Those gall bladder stones must be painful!  The oncologist said that we would ignore that right now, because the cancer comes first.   She had some blood work done to check out her liver because she is looking a bit jaundice.  We should hear back on the blood work and CT scan on her chest mid-next week.  This is to check and see if the chemo pills are doing their job. 

Prayer requests right now:
1.  Comfort in the hip area and better mobility - we are getting her a walker and shower chair today, so hopefully that will help
2.  Gall Stone pain
3.  CT scan results on her chest - that they would show improvements on the spots on her lungs.

Thanks everyone for your support and on-going prayers!

Joanna