Bouncing Off the Walls

Mom has been in the hospital in Utah for the last few days, and is currently finishing up a first class stay in ICU where she has been treated to some interesting imaginary people, some very funny statements, and lots of time with her family.

It all started about a week ago when she went in to have some new tumor mass removed. The new mass had been discovered about a week prior to coming to the hospital and she had scheduled surgery for a day last week. During that surgery, the doctors determined that the tumor was entrenched well enough that it was not going to come out, so they stitched her back up and let her go to recovery.

In the mean time, the single stint that has been serving one of Mom's kidneys had been causing increasingly more trouble. During the surgery recovery time, an infection which had been running for several days progressed to a serious infection that made it into her blood, which is making life even more interesting for mom. Her heart rate has crept up again and is holding steady at just under the speed of sound, and her blood pressure keeps bouncing off the floor, which has made for some interesting experiences. A day ago she was starting to see things that weren't there and through the night she had very pleasant visits with several inanimate things in her room.

The doctors are trying to treat the infection while still managing all the other competing concerns, so it feels a little like bouncing around off of several walls. Treat one problem and one of the others starts to be a nuisance. But things look like they are stabilizing now and hopes are that mom will be back in the general population soon, although we're certain she will miss one of the more friendly chairs and a curtain in her room, who she has become close friends with.

One is Better Than Two, at Least in This Case

Hi Everyone,

One stent is better than two; that's where Mom is right now. In fact, it made such a difference to have one stent removed that Mom went to church for the first time in two months and went to Jess' house for dinner and games. It was a glorious day! There was a lining of tumor on the left ureter that seemed to be obstructing things, so the stent will stay in place until the doctor feels Mom has a clean bill of health.

Mom continues to pursue alternate methods of fighting the cancer. She is doing a program provided by The Gifts of Nature as well as essential oils and is relying heavily on information from a great book, Cancer Made Simple by Connie Boucher. She feels very strongly that at least at this point, chemotherapy isn't the answer. She will continue to monitor her health and go in for checkups.

Thank you to all of you for your prayers. There is tremendous power in those. We love you.

Road to Recovery

It's been a little while since our last update on how Mom is doing, and for the most part things are just moving along as they should. She is recovering from the surgery, albeit with some new creeks and pangs, but still recovering. Aunt Janet and others have provides some fantastic information on a variety of treatments and helps, a number of which Mom has tried and found success with. She has found a great homeopathic physician in Idaho Falls who has helped her identify some of the things that were causing her more disturbing symptoms. I haven't talked to her about specifics, but her strength and steadiness seem much better now.
Today Mom joined the family for a Memorial Day barbecue at Code and Bart's home, following a day of moving Heather into her new home in Idaho Falls (Mom wisely did not participate in that part of the day's activities. ;) Heather is all moved into a great home that fits her family just right. New paint and carpet have made the home, which isn't that old to begin with, look like a brand new place. It will be just perfect for her and the kids.
Mom did also keep an appointment with the doctor to undergo the necessary genetic counseling so that she could sign the informed consent form and have the BRCA genetic testing done. Her blood work has been sent to the lab and we expect the receive the results any day. Once we do, and if the results confirm that she is a carrier of BRCA 1 or 2 (and everyone expects the results to come back positive), the kids will probably undergo testing as well. The Hunstman Center, which did the original study with the family to identify the presence of BRCA1 (was there any BRCA2 found in the family?) is running out of funding for that particular study, so whatever kids can get tested there, then it will be up to individuals to have the testing done through private labs. Apparently there are several labs now that can perform the test and insurance will frequently assist in the cost. Knowing which version of the gene mutation is being looked for also helps to keep the testing costs down because it allows them to only look at the DNA region of interest.
Mom and the kids did a great job decorating Dad's grave for today. We all miss him and look forward to being with him again someday. May we all remember our incredible heritage today.

Heart, Version 2

Mom went to visit the cardiologist again today to check on the progress of the heart fibrilation that has been causing her weakness and tiredness. They performed an EKG that showed heart atrial fibrillation again, and the cardiologist is concerned that there may be some blood pooling in some chambers of the heart that increases the risk of blood clots forming within the heart that can travel to other parts of the body.
The scheduled a transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE), which is a procedure in which a probe is placed down the throat because the esophagus lies just behind the heart and provides a clearer image of the heart than a normal sonogram or EKG can. The probe uses ultrasound to examine the heart, and the images will show the actual shape and motion of various chambers of the heart and show the blood flow through each of the chambers. Pretty amazing technology that makes diagnosing heart problems much easier and more exact.
The medication that Mom has been taking is supposed to keep the heart rhythm more regular, but it has not worked as well as anticipated, so Mom may need to go in for another heart "reset," called a cardioversion. Cardioversion is the shock treatment for the heart in which a brief low dose electric shock through pads on her chest and back is used to reset the electrical timing of the heartbeat. There is no discomfort during the procedure and she will be awake. Where the pads were connected to her skin the skin may feel slightly sore, like a mild sunburn for a day or two after the procedure, but it is considered a safe and very low-risk procedure.
Other than those pesky heart problems (and the doctors were sure to reiterate the fact that hearts are tough to live without :) ), Mom's recovery is progressing, albeit a little more slowly than normal due to the additional issues. It has now been a little over three weeks since the surgery and normal recovery time for the the of surgery she underwent can be as long as six weeks assuming no complications. She has found great use for several of the essential oils that she has tried, especially for controlling nausea and allowing her to rest peacefully.
Her home ward is still bringing in dinners every night and her good home teacher has been taking great care of the yard and outside of the house. She is in great hands and has had so many friends and acquaintances call and come to visit that her days have been very full.
Taylor has been a slacker at getting Mom's internet connection set up, so she hasn't been able to send or receive email since her surgery. We're hopeful that will be up and running in the next few days, although it may take Mom a few days after that to sort through all the messages that have come through. The upside of all that is that Mom can't see what we're posting in the blog either, so we can write whatever we want. :)
Love to all and deepest thanks for all the good love and care being sent to Mom.

Goreman, What a Name for a Doctor!

Mom is relieved today because she thinks they may have identified the source of tiredness, discomfort, and shakiness that she has been experiencing for the last several days. Her heart is apparently the culprit.
Mom went to an appointment this morning with Dr. Goreman, a cardiologist, to try to determine the cause of Mom's sustained high heart rate and irregular heart rhythm. After doing another exam and performing a fresh EKG on her heart, Dr. Goreman determined that Mom's heart has reverted to the irregular rhythm that it was manifesting while she was in the hospital. He has now doubled her dose of Amniodarone to help regulate the heartbeat, but that medication also comes with somewhat significant risks of liver or lung damage.
He also prescribed Digoxin, which is used to help treat the atrial flutter as a supplement to the Amniodarone. They will watch what the heart is doing for another week or so and then make the decision about whether to do another heart shock to get it back in rhythm again. Apparently, it is not uncommon to need to do the shock procedure two or even three times for the results to stick.

Stage Right

Mom's visit with the oncologist today was very enlightening and even a little encouraging. Dr. Shull went through the pathology report very thoroughly, line by line and explained to mom what each thing meant, then told her that based on all that was found in surgery and all that was in the pathology report, he would classify the tumor as a stage IIc, not a stage III. We had mis-read the report, thinking that it stated the tumor stage when it actually did not. A stage II tumor means that it is confined to the pelvic region. It is classified as a IIc because the cell wash results came back positive, which means there are cancerous cells that are floating in the abdominal fluid which circulates all about the abdominal cavity, which increases the possibility of tumors forming in other parts of the abdomen. If macroscopic tumors had been found in the abdominal region, the tumor would have been classified as a stage IIIc.
Dr. Shull went over some of the available conventional treatment options, so Mom has more information to work with, but she is still considering all options for treatment and will continue to gather info. She will not need to make any decisions about treatment for at least a couple more weeks to give her body enough time to heal from the surgery.

A Little R & R

Rest and recuperation, that is. Mom has been recovering very well and her doctors and nurses have all been impressed with how well she is able to get around and how cheery she continues to be, even when in pain. Each day she gets a little better, and we expect to have her back playing badminton in another few days. :)
The kids have been trading off time at Mom's house to help with meals, answering doorbells, general straightening, etc., but Mom will soon be to the point where she will be fine taking care of herself, although she still appreciates visits to keep any loneliness and boredom at bay. Tonight will be her first night on her own since the surgery.
Mother's Day is coming up this Sunday. A perfect time to have been reminded again what spectacular mothers we have all been blessed with.