Hey all,
I thought I'd pass along a bit of great news we got yesterday. My mom had a PET scan last week to determine how important it was that she get back on chemo (her wound isn't healed, yet, so they have held off on chemo since the beginning of December). The nurse called her yesterday and the report indicated that there hadn't been a change in her cancer since her last scan, which was in November! The great news is that the cancer seems to have stopped growing (at least momentarily), so they can continue to let the wound heal. The slightly bad news is that she has an appointment with the surgeon today because they think the wound might be infected again, which is keeping it from healing the way it should... very frustrating.
This morning:
I figured it was time for another update, since most of the people who read this ask me about my mom frequently. So, my mom (as you probably know) spent about 5 days in the hospital right before Christmas. Her red and white blood cell counts were dangerously low, she had a serious infection in her bowels, and she was overall extremely weak and sick. But, thanks to a blood transfusion, serious antibiotics, and great nurses, she started feeling lots better. A big problem, however, is that part of her incision from her surgery (that she had in August) popped open right after she got home from having her surgery. So, she has to visit the Wound Clinic three times a week, where they tend the wound. She also has a Wound Vac on it... sounds horrible, huh? Well, it is. Well, the wound isn't healing. In fact, it seems to have gotten much worse. This is probably because the chemo is not allowing it to heal. My mom was supposed to have chemo at the end of December, but we were all semi-relieved that they couldn't do it on her because of the wound, because she simply wasn't strong enough for another round. Well now the problem is that she's starting to feel the effects of the cancer more, and she's getting to the point where she "wants" the chemo. She went to the doctor today, planning on starting another round of chemo. But, they wouldn't do it on her, again, because of this stupid wound! It's very frustrating. So, now- on Monday, she will have another little surgical procedure where they will snip the area between the two openings (now, she actually has two wounds), so that she will only have one opening, so they can actually get to the bottom of the wound, so that it will heal from the bottom up. This means that she won't be able to do chemo for at least another month. We would appreciate any prayers on her behalf for this wound to heal quickly, so that she can then fight the cancer.
