Some many want to hear the whole story of what lead up to this horrific diagnosis. This is the chronicle of events.
Mom had been complaining of a pain in her side for much of Dec. When she stated that she could not lay on her left side we made an appointment with Dr. Wren on Dec. 16th. She was able to get us scheduled in the CT lab for an abdominal CT that day. She and Jill already had an appointment for their regular checkup on Dec. 23rd so we figured we were done. Dr. Wren advised us to keep the appointment just in case.
Usually we hear right away from Dr. Wren when she gets the test results back. We did not hear anything so I headed down to her and Jill’s appointment on the 23rd. At that appointment she told us that there was no indication of what was causing the side pain (which by that date went away). She did tell us that they saw lesions on her liver. We asked what causes those and she told us typically cancer. If it was cancer it most likely came from the breast or colon. So she wanted a mammogram and colonoscopy done.
We immediately walked down the hall and had a mammogram and scheduled a colonoscopy on the 31st of Dec since I had one scheduled for that day anyway. What better way to celebrate the end of the year.
During the following week we found out that the mammogram was fine and after the colonoscopy we were told there were polyps but nothing alarming. The next step was a biopsy of the spots.
She had the biopsy on Jan. 12th with a follow up appointment on the 20th. Jan 20th is the day that we received the news, Extensive Small Cell Lung Cancer and recommended we see Dr. Baggstrom. Dr. Wren asked her if she drank, that she advised us to go have a few drinks or the biggest ice cream sundae we wanted. She also wanted mom to have a chest CT to verify the results. We immediately went down to the CT center and had that done.
On Jan. 21st Dr. Wren called me and told me that mom had a very large mass in the center of her chest and that the cancer had collapsed the right lower lobe of her lung. The cancer mass was totally surrounding her aorta. There was no cure, no possibility for an operation.
We, Jill, mom and I saw Dr. Baggstrom on Jan. 27th. She and her fellow were very nice. Gave us lots of information and informed us that on average with treatment patients with this type of cancer live 6 months. She did have one patient that made it two years. She wanted mom to have a bone scan to see the extent of the spread and a brain CT to see if it was in her brain. We went to Crown Candy to “celebrate the big news”.
We had those test on Jan. 29th. Dr. Baggstrom’s assistant called to have us come back in on the 30th to go over the results. Great news, it was not in the brain but was in the limp nodes in the neck and chest. Recommended course of treatment was 6 rounds of chemo, three weeks apart with CT scans after every second treatment. After the 6th treatment it is just “maintenance”.
They scheduled chemo on Feb. 6th. We showed up at 10 for blood test, a 10:40 doctor’s appointment followed by a 11:30 chemo treatment. She was given Carboplatin and etoposide. She flew right through it. We followed up by a trip to P.F. Chang’s. She followed up with two days of etoposide orally which landed her in the ER due to breathing issues. After a couple of breathing treatment and a prescription for an inhaler and she was set free. She has had no nausea but a lot of fatigue.
Guy came in on the 12th and spent the time getting her and Bubbles out. We had a great family spaghetti dinner on the 14th. Guy made the meatballs and sauce. He left on the 17 and is due back in on the 26th.
Mom’s hair is beginning to fall out. I took her to look at wigs and try some on the 20th. It was very surreal; very hard thing to do. On Sunday Feb 22nd we had her hair cut very short. I almost could not stand there and watch it. I dutifully collect the falling locks. She looks fabulous with the short sassy hair.
We are off to chemo number 2 this Friday the 27th.
Guy is coming back in on the 26th and leaving the 3rd of March. Emily and Donna are coming in March 14 – 22 and Jeff is due in March 23rd.
Please keep mom in your prayers. I will keep this blog updated on what is happening. In the mean time we keep having fun.