Not Coming Home Yet

I was able to get down and see my mom today. I had hoped to stay overnight and go home tomorrow evening, but they did not let her go home from the hospital. Her Kidney numbers actually went up instead of down so they need to keep her another night. As long as it doesn't go up again, she may come home tomorrow. She looked amazing, not sick at all. We walked around the hallways, she was eating and in great spirits! The next step is to monitor her kidney function and hope that it starts to improve enough to start chemo again at some point. All of the doctors we saw today felt that the chemo  she did get worked enough to give her time for her kidneys to hopefully heal before the new treatment. It is a take it day by day scenario.  She is in no pain and on no pain meds. I thank God for that!  She is very happy about all the visits and calls!

Hopefully Coming Home Tomorrow

My mom is doing better. Her blood work shows that her kidney function is improving so they are thinking she will go home tomorrow. Don and I are going down to visit, finally, because I had been sick all last week. Her chemo is going to have to be post-poned a bit until they are sure her kidneys are ok. The oncologist said that he has come up with a different plan of treatment for her when she is ready.   I will post again after our visit tomorrow.  Keep the prayers coming!

Back in the hospital

My mom is back in the hospital.  she had some blood work done on Monday at her check up appointment and the doctor called last night to tell her she needed to go straight to the ER. Her kidneys are not handling the chemo, so they needed to flush them out. She is in room 2209. They are hoping to send her home on Friday. The problem is that the oncologist will now have to come up with another plan of treatment or chemo combination. Also, it may have to be postponed some until her kidneys recover. Other than this set back, she has been doing ok. Her spirits are good she is starting to be able to eat more and the nausea gets better as each day passes from the chemo. She is very tired and takes frequent naps. She still can't stand the smell of food cooking. She is still on oxygen and hoping to get a smaller back pack type in order for traveling easier.  She is getting around good at home, able to shower get herself food etc. I will keep you posted on when she gets out of the hospital . I also wanted to thank those of you who have visited with her and reached out and called her. I know it means a lot to her to have the support as it does to me.

I figured that by creating this blog that it would be an easy way for anyone that wanted to find out updates about my mother to be able to do so at anytime. I will try my best to keep it as up to date as possible.

As most of you all know already, my mom was diagnosed this past week with Small Cell Carcinoma, which is a type of Lung Cancer.  It is unfortunately a very aggressive, fast moving Cancer. This type of cancer does not follow the typical "staging" process. It is only divided into Limited Small Cell or Extensive Small Cell. Hers is Extensive because it is in her lung, the fluid surrounding her lung, her  lymph nodes in her chest and her liver.  There is no surgery option and no cure. Her only option was an aggressive chemo regimen. Without it, they gave her 6 - 8 weeks. Yes, I said weeks!  With the chemo, she could possibly make it to a year. A lot is up in the air. When she went in to the hospital, she had a collapsed lung that had a plueral effusion ( a space in the lung that was filled with 2 liters of fluid) they drained it and performed a surgery to hopefully prevent the fluid from returning. She started Chemo on Friday and came home yesterday from the hospital. She had to be sent home with a portable oxygen tank and a tank for the house. Her levels were low. She did chemo, Friday, Sat. and Today. She is feeling tired, nauseas and has very little appetite ( all of which is to be expected). She wants to keep a positive attitude. She says, "you have to think positive and mind over matter". I have to give her a lot of credit, I don't know what I would do in her position.  The bottom line is that we just don't know how long. The chemo could work to prolong her life and "quality of life" or so they say. She is not in pain at this point. Personally, I am trying to plan on spending as much time as I possibly can with her starting right away. George works long hours. He usually leaves the house at 6:00 in the morning and often isn't back until 6 or 7 at night. She will be alone a lot when I am not there. If any of you have time off or schedules that permit you to be able to stop in during the week and visit, that would be helpful to keep her spirits up.  They will be doing a scan soon to see if it has gone into her brain or bones. I will keep you all posted on her journey as things play out. For those of you that pray, please keep her in your prayers.