Retraction... Thanks Nurse Shannon

So... There's a reason why Shannon should be blogging all the medical jargin...
- there's 1,000ml in 1 liter... so my math was a little off
- Mom had a pericardial window not a pericardium.
Lastly and probably most important...
- Mom was at SANford... not STANford...

Oye Vey...

any ways,
Mom's been resting a lot and trying to gain back some of her strength. She has a doctor's appointment with Dr. McHale today and we'll know more about where we go from here after she see's him. It's only been a week since her surgery (not even) and sleep is necessary for her recovery. Visitors are more than welcome; just give her a call, she would love to see you!
Thank you for your love, thoughts and prayers.
-A

Rough Week

Mom's been fighting to catch her breath this week.
She found herself in getting 1 liter of fluid removed from her right lung - that's the WORKING one if you're keeping track.
She experienced quite a bit of relief but still had some trouble catching her breath.
She went in today for an echo-cardiogram and concurred with Dr. McHale that she had quite a bit of fluid around her heart again.
They sent her to the ER and put her on some oxygen for the day with thoughts of sending her to Sioux Falls to get the fluid removed and then decided to send her home.
We have no plan of action as of yet - just a lot of frustration.
Please send thoughts and prayers her way.
love,
abby

CT Scan-ness

Shannon's taking Mom in for her CT Scan today.

Mom's been very short of breath lately and it's hard for her to walk even a short distance without becoming very winded.

We're hoping they'll be able to relieve some of that discomfort and get her breathing back to normal, well, as normal as her breathing gets these days.

I just got home on Tuesday from a flight home to visit (surprise) her for Mother's day - I'll post pictures a little later.

♥ a

GO AWAY

It’s frustrating having to go back to the Doctor week after week. We were optimistic after the last visit with Dr. McHale, but this week Mom came down with Pneumonia. They didn’t hospitalize her, but she’s on antibiotics and strict instructions to stay home and rest.

Damn that Pneumonia.

But, here we go... Gunna kick this round's butt too! Right Momma?!

Say an extra prayer if you would :)

Going Strong

There's something beautiful about being home with your Momma.
I spent the first week of the year with her, and it was the best. week. ever.
I haven't had a chance to blog much - I haven't been real inspired.

I do have to say that I'm pretty happy there hasn't been much news over here. Posting news here can have good and bad connotations, so I'd rather not have to blog than be posting frequently.

Mom is doing well.
She's continuing Chemo in hopes that it will zap some of the Cancer inside of her body.
She's pretty tired most days, but has been working only 30 hours a week (as opposed to her 45+ she has been working). She's been living with Kathy & Todd, and it's helped her exponentially to be around people, and not have to worry about heating that damn trailer house ($244 this month and NO ONE WAS LIVING IN IT).


We had an excellent visit, and I'm working on a little piece about my visit with her to Chemo appointment, her nurses are a hoot!In more news... Missy Sinner took these fantastic photos of us while I was there.
Thank you Missy... from the bottom of our hearts... Thank you.

We Have a Plan

So many people have been asking "how's your Mom" ... and After the Mayo... "What's the treatment plan from here?"

Well, Mom's doing good. She's been sleepy but that's really nothing new - according to her.

She went to her doctor today and they've determine that they will do a dose of chemo once a week for three weeks, then a week off and repeat that cycle 4 times.

It will amount to about 4 months worth of chemo treatments, but ultimately it will hopefully stunt the growth of the cancer and prove to have less side effects than the last rounds she's endured.

The side effects will be minimal hair loss, loss of appetite and she will be lethargic (surprise). She figures it's nothing a good nap, a can of ensure and a wig can't cure!

We're all very happy that we have a plan to move forward with.

Thanks for your continued prayers and love,
Abby

Down... But not Out.

I didn't get a chance to post yesterday as I'm in DC for business.

Tony, Kathy, Shannon & Mom went to the Mayo Monday morning for Mom's consultation/examination.

Monday was a series of CT Scans and blood work, and then a break.

Tuesday was consultation, and review of above mentioned scans and blood work.

Today, Mom's being put in the hospital to have fluid drained from around her heart. There's nearly a pint floating around there, and the doctors want to get it out of there.

So, here's the good, the bad and the ugly.

The good: We have some direction, we know what's going on.

The Bad: What's going on is no picnic.

The Ugly: The cancer has spread. It started out as a few masses in her left lung, now it's spread to her right, and up into her neck. She'll be starting more rounds of Chemo to try to knock it out.

It took me awhile to get this posted, because we're heartbroken. We wanted different news than what we got, that much is obvious. Like I said... we're down, but not out!

Thanks for your continued love, prayers and support. It means the world to us.

All my love,
Abby

Gathering Paper

Mom was relieved to see that most of the paperwork they had to gather for her trip to the Mayo was easily stored on CD. She figured if not, she might need a wagon to haul it around!

Dr. McHale's office has been really great about helping her get her files in order and her insurance approved.

It's been a relief!

Hurry Up & Wait... Hurry Up & Wait... Story of our lives.

Thanks for your support and prayers,
A

Scheduled

Mom got her appointment to the Mayo scheduled for September 20th in Rochester.
Kathy and Shannon are going with her and it should be a couple days of testing and waiting, testing and waiting. I told Mom she needs to book a hotel room with a pool if that's the case!

In the meantime, she'll be kept plenty busy gathering paperwork and talking with her insurance company. She's supposed to bring every detail of every appointment since diagnosis. That's a year and 4 months worth of paperwork that she will have to compile. Thankfully all of her doctors offices can help in that regard.

So here we are... playing the waiting game again... We're getting darn good at it!

The Referral

Last week Mom's doctor suggested that she think about having someone over at the Mayo Clinic take a look at her PET scans and run a few tests. At worst we'll have bad news, at best maybe we'll gain a little peace of mind; what we wouldn't give for peace of mind right now.

She's got her referral paperwork in, and hopefully we'll have her scheduled for an appointment in a couple weeks.

It's a blessing she lives so close to the Mayo and they can check her out!

I poked around on the Mayo Clinic website a little bit and they have an entire section dedicated to Lung Cancer. CHECK IT OUT.

Makes me feel even better to send her there.

Just keep Waiting... Just keep Waiting... Waiting... Waiting

After another somewhat inconclusive PET scan we've been asked to "hang tight" for yet another two weeks.

Mom's neck pain has been flagged as "abnormal" activity, though they can't pinpoint what it is. Dr. McHale has put her on antibiotic thinking it's an infection or something along that line.

She'll see Dr. McHale again in two weeks to see how the antibiotic has worked, and weather or not he wants to send her over to the Mayo for a biopsy.

We'll just keep waiting.... and waiting... and waiting... not so patiently I might add. We are pleased to hear there's no further plans for maintenance chemo for now, and that her spot in her lung has shrank.

Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers,
-a

Fingers Crossed?

The PET results will be in tomorrow! We're all crossing our fingers, hoping for a clean scan! Mom's sick of Chemo, and ready to be done with the monthly dose.

She's been experiencing some pain in her neck (not us kids for a change) recently and we're also hoping to get some answers to that this week as well.

Keep her in your prayers please!!!
Love,
A

Thanks Be To GOD!

Look at this... 2 Happy Dance posts with in weeks of each other! What a wonderful feeling!

Mom's Biopsies came back from the lab CANCER FREE!

She's going to do just a little bit more "Maintenance Chemotherapy" to keep things away, but that's not until after her trip to Seattle NEXT WEEK!

We've got a lot to be thankful for, and couldn't have done it with out your support!

Humbly, I thank you all.

Another big THANK YOU goes out to

Carol Ervin

for her donation to relay!

We're floating on cloud 9!!!

Have a Happy Weekend!

Homeward Bound!

Mom’s headed home after a day of poking and prodding.
They found NO NEW CANCER GROWTH in neither her lung nor her lung fluid; which they drained the other day.
She’s on a strong antibiotic as they’re certain she has Pneumonia, which requires a lot of rest, and antibiotics.
She figures she has an Iron lung and that her right lung must be pretty strong to be dragging her left lung along for the ride.
The doctor (Cardiologist) will follow up with her in Sioux Falls on Friday to see how the fluid around her heart is doing, they feel it will dissolve itself.
So, Shannon is taking her back to Watertown, Nurse Shannon says after she eats they’ll start the discharge because she’s still a little groggy from the anesthesia, She’ll eat at 5:45pm and Mom says she’ll be running out the door and on the road by 6:05pm.
Glad to hear the pneumonia isn’t taking the spunk out of her! Great to end the week on a happy note; Thanks for all your prayers!
-a

In a Word...

Stable...

Synonyms :

*Steady

*Even

*Constant

*Firm

* Unwaivering

*Sure

*Secure

*Established

What a Blessing to hear the word Stable today.
The Cardiologist just left Mom's room, No changes, and her heart is stable.

They will probably do Lasix to get the fluid off her heart and will follow up with the cardiologist next week to see how she's doing.

They're going to go ahead with the Bronchoscopy tomorrow, as planned.

HOPEing for a release from the Hospital as well!

Thanks for checking in with the updates, I think this will be my last post for the day... :)

Doing Well.

So, the fluid that was removed was not around the heart, but around the lungs; Great success! (Per Nurse Shannon) They are going to try to remove the fluid around her heart via lasix and then result to the procedure Mom and I don't want to think about - GIANT NEEDLE - makes me think... Uma Thurman and Pulp Fiction. Any ways, She's doing good, and looking good too! I had Shannon take a picture of her for me this morning, I LOVE her hair style... I told her to leave the wig at home, always.

I will keep the updates coming as I get them.

Love,

A

Stayin at the Holiday Inn

Mom went in for her Bronchoscopy today and landed herself a two and a half day stay at the Hospital in Sioux Falls.

During her appointment her doctor ordered a CT scan for her, in waiting for the results her blood pressure and heart rate began to climb. In the CT scan they discovered fluid around the bottom part of her heart and around her left lung. They admitted her to the hospital to bring her blood pressure down and her heart rate back to normal which was double her normal rate.

As they were prepping the meds to calm down her heart, it calmed down on it's own but they are keeping her for the next couple nights to keep a good eye on her, and try to do the bronchoscopy on Friday before they release her.

I got to talk to Mom on the phone and she said she doesn't feel like she should be in the hospital; she said she isn't sick enough. She had encouraging words and feels ready to run out the door. I told her to stay put and pretend like it's a Holiday Inn without the scary pool.

Here's her and Kathy waiting for the Doctor... there was a lot of waiting today...They're pros!

Continued prayers for her healing is appreciated.


Off to bed
-a

TODAY!

Today is the day... Let's say it Lutherans "that the Lord hath made"

... But on top of that - this is the day that Mom heads to Sioux Falls for her Bronchoscopy!

She's feeling SO much better after being on antibiotics for the past week, so we're hoping all they'll find in there is some scar tissue!

Keep her in your thoughts / Prayers for the procedure though, she still has to go under and all that jazz. We will get the results of the biopsy in a week or so.

-a

Follow the Yellow Brick Road!

Tacy brought this little treat back for me from Lincoln City Oregon. Apparently Lincoln City is getting ready for their Relay for Life and "There's no place like Hope" is their theme this year!

I squealed like a giddy little 4th grader when I saw that this t-shirt would compliment my ruby converse slippers like perfectly!

And the best part? The sponsor on the sleeve is the casino and resort Tacy and I stayed at during the Laserfiche conference of 2007 - a wonderful week where we became very close!

Love, -A

Maintain

Mom's headed in to the clinic for some maintenance Chemo today.

Text her and maker her laugh... but mostly pray she doesn't get sick.

Have a happy weekend!