mavis had a ct scan done last friday...... the results have shown the tumor
has grown slightly in size, but has not metastisized to any other organs.... we
had a wound check yesterday and dr barry drained a small pocket of "fat" from
the apex of the incision.... the skin had closed up before the wound healed from
the inside....we are putting a wick into the wound to help drain and get it
healed before we can proceed with radiation if thats the path we take..... we
now have an up to date file which we will start sending out today to a couple of
places for second opinions.....
May 21, 2008
i'm sure y'all are wondering what has been happening lately..... we are
moving along with the cleansing and diet... mavis feels very good, and for being
3 weeks out of surgery, she looks fantastic too..... she started going back to
p.e. this week..... no cardio yet, but pumping iron ala the governator.... part
of wanting to go back to the gym is social, seeing her old boyfriends is a
highlight in her day.......
well, now that i have moved onto the 2nd cup of coffee, we'll get down to
brass tacks and the info that everyone has been awaiting.... or meeting with dr
nelson was............ disappointing? maybe... more like frustrating.....
when the doctor comes out and matter of factly tells us there is no cure,
nothing we can do to stop this,...... well it's like someone pissing on your
cheerios.... dr nelson has proposed a chemo/radiation regime in combination....
the chemo drug is called xeloda and is a 5 floro-uracil variant which is
standard proceedure with pancreatic chemo..... the chemo drug is taken 2x's a
day orally and radation m-f for 5 weeks.... this is based upon standard
protocol, and may vary depending upon the radiation oncologist.... the radiation
treatment will be done at ucsf with a dr krieg... dr nelson seems to have a good
rapport with ucsf and knows some of the physicians we would contact for 2nd
opinion.... she is also contacting dr ko at ucsf about clinic al trials going on
there... they don't do, or maybe aren't doing any trials at kaiser....so.....
where does that leave us???
we are looking into other alternative options, not ruling out the
chemo/radiation plan........ mavis does not fit the prototype of your typical
pancreatic cancer patient.... therefore, why should a cookie cutter treatment
plan be effective?? we are willing to step out on the limb to look at more
radical alternatives thinking atypical treatment for an atypical situation.....
we will have another ct scan done before dr krieg will look at the file...
he will then then call and schedule an appt after looking over the case.... here
is the big hang up.... alot of alternative programs will not accept
chemo/radiation patients because their immune system has already been
compromised.....therefore, we need to figure out our next step before proceeding
in either direction....
May 17, 2008
"may 17"
the big party was a success thanks to my excellent help! ambien totally
dropped the ball on me last night.... i was really hoping for a good night
sleep, not........ but we had plenty of time and talent to get everything
together and i was pleased with the outcome....
the diet seems to be going well... i forgot to relay last time that we have
halted the weight loss slide.... i'm guessing mavis had dropped 12-15 pounds
from prediagnosis to post surgery..... since coming out of the hospital and
seeing dr barry on wednesday, she put on 2.5 pounds.... since the cleanse began,
i see her eyes are clearer, skin too..... energy level varies, which reminds
me..... visitors please limit your stay to 1-1.5 hours..... or you will be asked
to leave..... the other day was way too busy and she was exhausted... not your
fault but mine... i know how much she enjoys the company, but she needs to rest,
which she hasn't been doing..... she is almost completely healed from the
incision and ostomy. no more spongebath squarepants.... she is probably going
to be able to shower in the next few days..... mavis walks a little hunched
over, the repercussions of the surgery... the skin and abdominal muscles are
"tight" as she likes to call it... with time and some stretching, we hope to get
her more upright..... physically too...
dr chen has seen improvement, but says her chi is still weak... tweaked her
tea formula a bit..... needles don't seem as painful now......all in all, this
has been a very good week.... her spirits are high, energy for the most part is
good too.... this cleansing diet seems to keep us homebound more than i would
like.... she is drinking or eating something every hour practically....
stuart, our wonderful real estate agent and friend, and his partner james are
visitng tomorrow, and then we are graced with an audience with "the boys",
angelo and scott... we lose uncle picky in the morning.... she has been a huge
help and was a huge part in making my party successful with her willingness to
do anything and everything.... she's a great plumber for those in need.... i'm
exhausted but know i will not sleep again tonight..... i will be able to grab
naps during the day tomorrow...
thank you all again, for calls, cards, flowers, prayers, and mostly for all
the positive energy..... remember, TODAY IS PERFECT! live in the moment, and
kiss the ones you love.....
May 15, 2008
"i have no idea what day it is........"
good morning vietnam!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we had our appointment with dr
barry yesterday and we passed with flying colors..... the ostomy and incision
are both healing well.... there was a small hematoma under the ostomy so she
drained and cleaned it out... the apex of the incision is not completely closed,
but dr barry said this wasn't a concern.... she removed the butterflies and
redressed the osotomy.....
we discussed dr nelson, our oncologist, with dr barry..... she recommended
her because she is young and agressive.... she stays abreast of new treatment
options and being younger, she is willing to look at other options, not like
some stodgy old turd who thinks leeches and blood letting are cutting edge.....
hopefully we will "feel the love" that we have for dr barry... if we don't
connect with her, there are other oncologists, but dr barry felt she would be
the best for our situation....
accupuncture sessions are going well.... dr chen has commented on the
improvement he has seen in mavis in just the 10 days she has been going for
treatments... both dr chen and dr barry have signed off on the new diet..... dr
barry was concerned about daily enemas and deydration..... so, we have decided
to cut it down to twice a week.... dr barry was impressed that we were telling
her about all our "non-hospital" treatments... i guess many people are
embarassed to discuss eastern medicine with western doctors, or maybe we are
just lucky to get a great doctor who understands the importance of both....
unlike some of those egotistical assholes..... our cleansing process began this
morning in earnest, colon cleaning cocktail (2 for 1 at happy hour, come by for
the all you can eat raw kale and flax seed buffet), fresh pressed juices..... as
much as i grumbled doing melanie ellison's raw diet, its coming into fruition
now.... i found a the top rated water ionizer on ebay, and manag ed to save a
few hundred dollars too, so that is a huge bonus.... are getting all the pieces
together, hope we manage to put the puzzle together....
the phone calls are coming, well wishers are stopping by, and life is
returning to some form or normalicy...
maggy puss is coming back for the day.... we just love having his positive
energy and silliness around.... and his cackle is contageous...... uncle picky
has been a HUGE help around the house... she was out gardening, washing the car,
dishes... and just suffice to say, we have alot of fun with her.... hopefully
jay, milan and our girls are coming over memorial day weekend..... milan has
been such a great sounding board for me, and she "totally gets it.....".........
we are anxious to see the girls and we will be able to celebrate all our
birthdays together..... should be great with the vegan sprouted lentil and raw
beet birthday cake and cashew milk ice cream..... yum!
today is an off day...no appointments, no needles, just a beautiful
day...... hot fun in the summer sun
May 12, 2008
"monday da 12th"
obladi obladah life goes on...... i'm beginning to think i'm not needed in
this process anymore, now that mavis is doing so well...... a very good friend
told me when all this started precipitating...."stay in the moment, jeffy...."
and god, what magic words those have turned out to be......thanks shelley! it is
hard to believe sometimes what we are really fighting... andie is recooping from
the surgery very very well.... we are on a med/food/poo schedule that is working
for us... all it takes is time, and that is the one thing we have plenty of for
now...... i'm happy with her progress, attitude and spirit...... we are about...
let me clarify that....SHE is about to embark on a cancer cleansing program, as
soon as i find all the components... basically, it will be my variations on a
raw, vegan diet, with some cooked food, and fish....
no way in hell i'm going vegan..... i am going to give up sugar while she
is on this diet.... god, no coke..... what is this world coming
to?????????
uncle picky arrived on the scene about 1500 yesterday.... my dad called to
check on mavis, which was a very nice surprise for her..... picky will be here
until sunday to help whilst i crank out a party on saturday... we have 2
accupuncture appts and one with dr barry.... picky will get stuck doing all the
stuff i don't want to do... gardening, etc... but she is a trooper and a great
friend.... she even came up and helped us move into our house 8 years ago, and
she and mavis built our little deck in the back.... a tomboy "with a heart as
big as her ass..." as andie likes to decribe her... not only will picky help
with andie, her company will afford me some time to go see a movie, hit some
golf balls, and generally detox wtihout worrying too much about mavis....
after our accupuncture appt, we are heading off to rainbow grocery to find
all the stuff for andie's cleanse... looking into a water alkalizer... sounds
like this is going to be a major component in our new dietary lifestyle... i
guess all those years of school are paying off.... being bombarded with all this
information is overwhelming at best, but i'm able to process and understand all
the terminology and theoretical rhetoric that comes along with the situation....
funny thing is, when in school, i was fascinated by oncology..... now it doesn't
have quite the same appeal.... karmic revenge for not following the yellow brick
road???.... maybe, but i would hate going through this process dull and
ignorant,....relying on blind faith of those who are supposed to be in the
know...... never had a problem telling anyone their full of shit.... hopefully
dr nelson, our oncologist recommended by dr barry, will bring her game..... i
have all kinds of alternative treatments and cli ncal trials to discuss with
her, will see how well she stays abreast of cutting edge medicine.....
May 9, 2008
"may 9 again..."
woooooo hoooooo! 2 good days in a row.... we are finally making some
headway.... calorie intake is increasing, i'm feeding her small little meals
about every 1.5-2 hrs....i'm trying not to let her get hungry... if she's hungry
she eats too much, too quickly and she gets bloaty, maybe that's your problem
kyle.....oh, ouch!
we went out today, mavis mainly sat in the car with principessa.... wanted
to try her out at border's with the service vest, but she was tired and needed a
nap... probably tomorrow after our accupuncture appointment at 1130.... she is
up to taking some phone calls, but keep them to 10 minutes.... i can't tell you
a good time to call, just after 0830 and before 2030.... the ringer is turned
off, and answering machine is low, so if mavis is sleeping, it won't wake
her.... please feel free to leave and message and if she's up for a
conversation, we'll pick up..... visitors are welcome to make an
appointment....
we have our next session with dr barry next wednesday am..... just to check
how she is healing from surgery...... our first oncology appointment on the
21st..... now she is gabbing with maggy who just landed at jfk from london....
sipping on that nasty smelling and i'm sure, even worse tasting herb tea and
eating cashew macadamia cookies fresh from the oven... the sweet makes the
bitter somewhat tolerable....
hopefully the setbacks are just that, and things will fall into place....
uncle picky is coming monday and will stay for about a week..... my big event of
the season is the 17th so will be busy getting it together.....
we will try border's tomorrow to find some macrobiotic cookbooks with the
service pig.... with any luck, we will jump straight into the good news with
saturday's update.....
buenos noches
May 9, 2008
"may 9"
ambien is my new best friend....... luckily andie didn't wake up to a
counter full of dirty spoons and empty condiment jars, but that's a story for
another time.... i'm sure kyle would love to fill you in on the naked truth of
the story.....
after breakin' out of rawhide on wednesday, we got home late morning and
tried to settle into a routine.... managed to prop up the bed with some
upolstery foam, etc.... after 8 days in the chokey, mavis was ready to hit the
showers, so we gave her a hosing down. the dressing for the drain tube had
gotten wet, and was sticking to the ostomy..... someone, who shall remain
nameless to protect the guilty, started to pull at the wet dressing...... then
the blood started oozing..... we cut away as much wet dressing as we could, and
put another gauze pad on top.... fast forward about an hour...
mavis is screaming and wake up and run to the other room....... i pulled
back the covers and i half expected to see a horse's head in the bed..... she
was pajama bottoms and t shirt are now saturated in blood..... my blood pressure
immediately reaches boiling point...... i will spare you the next 5 minutes of
coversation..... andie will now listen to me about pulling on dressings that are
stuck to scabs....
we rushed her to ER and spent the next 3 hours with a wonderful dr chang
who managed to clean up the mess and reclose the ostomy....... 6 am came alll
too soon and trying to get up and get the dog fed, peed, and pooed.... mavis
medicated and fed too... and getting my dragging ass out the door in time to
taste god knows what at work.... luckily it was a sucrose infusion so i managed
to stay awake......
yesterday afternoon we had our first appointment with dr chen.... our
accupuncturist/herbologist....
andie is definitely "messed up" inside with blocked chi due to the
tumor.... we will meet with dr chen 2x's a week and she is drinking an herb
tea..... luckily it is powder and we dont have to cook it in the house..... the
evening was drinkable... the morning and afternoon tea is nasty she says......
dr chen said mavis is too weak now to withstand the rigors of chemo/radiation,
so we will need him to build up her strength for the next round of
treatments....
the good news for the day.... veronica is officially a service dog..... she
is sporting a new blue vest... we will take her out and give it a try.... maybe
dinner at the ritz carlton????
May 4, 2008
"sunday may 4"
now i seem recall that this date plays a rather large roll in our family
history.... 12 years ago today, we were truly blessed with angela and sarah.
happy birthday to our favorite nieces!!! it was quite a nice surprise that the
girls called the hospital this morning. i'm not sure where jay ended up taking
them for breakfast, but we put our two cents in for the original pancake
house..... a dutch baby and a german apple pancake. hope you made it girls, if
not now, then soon..... skip school.... it's less crowded on weekdays..... and
we hope you won your soccer game.
bad news first..... pain is coming back.... but now although pain is bad,
we are now using a different pain management system..... we are off the pump, in
fact, we are completely free of the iv pole... there is still an iv in place
(the last one of 5).... we are on oral vicoden and motrin.... not sure what
dosage is, but if she takes if before the pain comes, it works better.... so
timing is important.. with the pump, push the button, instant gratification....
just the way it should be.... take a pill, wait 30 minutes while it passes
through your system..... just need to cue her in on taking it before not
after.....
ok, everyone on the count of 3....... 1..............
2..................... 3.......
pppppppppppppppppbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbtttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt! yes,
ladies and gentlemen, we have lift off..... the main power boosters have kicked
in and this baby is going to the moon!!!!! much to the relief of many, myself
included, andrea has finally let one rip! with bladder function, bowel
movements.... who could ask for anything more??? she is on solid food.... well,
i'm not really sure what it is they feed them...... but it is no longer liquid
or jello....... these are all prequisites for release..... hopefully
tuesday...
i would not tell this story without my wife's permission, at least i
wouldn't print in an email for the world to see.... i WOULD, however, take you
aside and give you a good belly laugh in the corner at a party.....
once again, those of you who know us well, know our world revolves around
principessa..... due to changes in her food, she was getting sick, vomiting,
loose stools, not eating, etc... so after the 3rd episode of the night when she
came within 3 seconds of hurling on andie's head, i determined enough is
enough....
from that point on, i have made every meal she has eaten in the past 8
months... yes.... this is going somewhere.... as if you have something better to
do than to read my emails......with all that we have been going through in the
past few weeks, my freezer was looking like old mother hubbard's cupboard (say
that 10 times fast)...... i call angelo and scott and the boyz deliver costco
chickens for me to make the next batch of "lolly gruel"... lolly is one of a
myriad of names we have for veronica... andie christened veronica's dogfood as
"lolly gruel"....
i semi debone the chickens, and cook them without wings and carcass in
water, poaching them gently so they don't dry out... take out the chicken,
reduce the stock by 1/3 and dump in steel cut oats, brown basmati rice, millet
and flax.... add some italian cavalo nero and cook until the liquid is
absorbed.... i added roasted sweet potatoes, chopped parsley, and the shredded
chicken.......
although the lolly gruel was low, i still have frozen portions of pozole,
shortribs, bolognese, amatriciana, sugo with meatballs, lasagne, frijoles in the
freezer.... well as they say, you can take the girl out the ukraine but.........
i would like to introduce you to my new food product with its no miss tag
line...
lolly gruel.... grandma marj tested, principessa approved!
angela and sarah got a big chuckle out of this one...... andie's comment
was....."you'd think we have her chained to the radiator in the garage.....!"
all i said was......"do you think she would notice if i put lolly's old kibble
in the cereral boxes........?"
good night all
May 3, 2008
"saturday may 3"
i am beginning to feel like oscar schindler....... that somehow adding more
and more friends to this list will make all this go away..... that if the list
is big enough, it will smother this thing, as if it is drawing all the resources
from the tumor.... as the list grows, the tumor shrinks... and then the vision
of the red coat....
back to reality.....
we are making good progress on the road to recovery..... andie is up and
about, started walking yesterday, and actually made 4 trips today down the
hall... i'm guessing a good 5 iron or choked down 4, maybe i'll take my skycaddy
with me to the hospital tomorrow for accurate yardage.... the meds seem to have
been stabilized..... she is managing her pain and the nausea is lessened... i
explained your theories on pain medication to andie, kek and is sank in....
thanks! she is using the button before it hurts, rather than waiting until the
pain comes and then trying to control it... the will probably pull the pca
tomorrow, and put her on oral pain meds... the foley catheter came out last
night, but they put it back in because her bladder was full. she couldn't
evacuate it herself... the foley is out now, and she seems to be getting her
bladder control back... they are trying suppositories to get the bowels back on
line....
i am making chicken broth to take to andie tomorrow... they gave her that
nasty ass bullion that tastes like a salt lick, and would cause renal
failure.... not on my watch.... luckily veronica needed more dog food, so i had
chicken bones in the freezer.... i even took my down pillow with 400 thread
count egyptian cotton pillow case! i'm not getting much use out it
anyways......
tonight i gave andie a sponge bath... washed her hair, shaved her legs....
armpits.... plucked eyebrows.... flossed, brushed, moisturized.... i am homey
todd, demon esthetician of baker street...... i'm sure she will sleep well being
squeeky clean from head to toe.... not to mention my pillow, again.....
whats on the horizon..... tomorrow we hope for some solid food, but we'll
see how the suppositories work tonight... i saw dr barry tonight.... (she is
covering this weekend.... ) .... she is setting up appointments with an
ocologist for us.... i don't remember her name, but will ask her again
tomorrow..
dr b is hoping to release andie monday or tuesday.......
veronica was able to make a quick guest appearance at the hospital...
frances, our wonderful nurse, said it would be ok, so i brought principessa to
visit the mama for a few minutes.... the security guard had a rough time with
it, but for someone like me with such a blatant disregard for authority, told
him to talk to the nurse and i kept walking.... those of you who know her well,
also know how veronica is in new places..... she was panting so hard it was
stressing andie, so i took her home.....
we listened to the giants actually win a game tonight..... watched some
basketball and i put her to bed... ok, here's the deal..... to put EVERYONE in
andie's shoes.... no one can fart until she does!!!!!!!
May 2, 2008
may 1 update part 2
i'm baaaaaaaaackkkkkkkk..............
i forgot to give you yesterday's good news...... the birthday girl (not you
kyle or jean) is becoming a service dog... yes, as funny as it sounds, veronica
will be sporting a vest and this will enable her to finally get carte blanche
and red carpet access to which she feels so entitled......... after some online
research, and answering a few questions like..... will she come when called....
yes, if she is in the mood.... and, will she sit on command,.... yes if she
wants to...... so with all that grey area, what the hell..... dr barry said she
would sign whatever paperwork is necessary, but it doesn't really look like
there is really any organization that really regulates this service animal
system....maggy was telling me of stories of "service monkies" and "service
miniature ponies" on the american airlines, so a service pig should be so
trendy....... service pig, service pig, does whatever a service pig does.....
(for all of us simpsons fans).......
andie did have 2 visitors yesterday... on the 30th, she felt good about
having a group around, and it alleviated the restlessness and boredom...
yesterday was not so good due to the pain management/nausea situation....
hopefully we will get this under control today, and we can start getting some
visitors to see her.... i'm acting as crowd control.... scheduling etc, so when
she is up for it, you will get an email or phone call....... also, we agreed
"trainwrecks" will not be admitted, at least to the hospital..... meaning YOUR
emotional stability plays an important part in her recovery.... she doesn't need
or want crybabies with her at this point......
one last point... please don't send flowers to the hospital.... she won't
be there too long, i hope, and it is stuff i have to schlep home, so if you feel
the need, wait until she is home please.... out of town florists are like a box
of chocolates.... you never know what you're going to get..... so for those of
you outside the bay area, i could recommend my very close friends and also my
favorite florists, chizuru and yumi at www.inouifloral.com .......
well, the pig has been fed, and i need to hop into the shower and go see my
girl... more tonight.......
May 1, 2008
"may 1 update"
everytime i look, this group keeps getting bigger and bigger.... thanks
again for all the supportive emails and phone calls... firstly let me reach out
and give a happy birthday to kyle, jean and most important of all (sorry boys),
principessa! today is veronica's 9th birthday.
on with the show..... today seemed like somewhat of a set back... andie got
moved from icu to a room last night. she was suffering from numbness in the left
leg, and still was uncomfortable from the pain.... obviously the epideral was
not doing its thang, so they tried repositioning it to no avail. remove
epideral, add pca..... pca is a pump where andie can "juice up" on the meds when
she feels the need... and of course, my wife is concerned about pushing the
button to frequently...GEEZ! she is now on a mix of morphine and dilaudid.....
andie is allergic to codeine, so now we have nausea added to the problem... add
some zofran...... no help.... she can't open her eyes because she gets dizzy,
trying not to vomit because clearing her throat is agony...... we did get her in
a chair for a few hours, and she stood up with my holding her for about 15
minutes. her legs are swollen, not sure where that comes from, maybe just
retaining all this built up fluid in her system. she is also on a drip of cipro
(antibiotic) for infection. her scar is rather large. if you are at all
squimish, quickly jump to the next paragraph. the scar basically follows the
contour of her rib cage, like a horseshoe, from left to right. it is stapled.
it seems to be healing very well, which pleases dr barry. she had a couple of
"hot spots" along the suture line, may be caused by sitting up, and leaning
over, not sure....
the nausea and numbness in her legs seem to be the major concern... we need
to get her first and foremost to faht, as they say in boston...... her bowels
still seem to be slow to recover, no gas passing means no liquids or food....
both prerequisites for release. drs want to pull the foley catheter, but she is
too dizzy to try to walk, and get up to use the bathroom. add reglan (anti
nauseant), and this seemed help a little, also reclining farther back in bed.
she was very tired tonight, we made it through jeopardy, (who is the marquise de
lafayette?) and then she pretty much gassed out. dr barry scripted some ambien
if needed, she did not sleep well last night, noise, being woken etc... so i
told nurseypoo to give it to her if she isn't sleeping when checked.......
these little updates are my therapy... i guess its a way for me to detox my
system of the buildup... is it strength? no, more like callousness from hoeing
this row one too many times..............
April 30, 2008
"april 30th report"
first of all, happy birthday my sister peggy!!!! we won't tell you how old
she is, but let it be known, she is still older than me!!!!
a very depressing day at the hospital...... lying to andie about her
condition felt like such a betrayal, but i knew i couldn't be the one to explain
what dr barry had found yesterday. she was awake when we got to the hospital,
and was anxious to see dr barry. she asked again about the surgery and what was
done, i told her she didn't have to do the vein resection and graft, which was
true, but i couldn't tell her the tumor was inoperable.
dr barry came around 1 after her clinic. she sat and explained that she had
found the tumor had grown beyond the pancreas and was wrapped around the portal
vein, the superior mesenteric vein, and the spleenic vein, as well as possibly
compromising the aterial system as well... this means both blood to and from the
heart would be shut down. the bowel would end up dying due to lack of blood
supply, same with the spleen. as i told you yesterday, the hepatic duct was
reattached to the jejunum and her blood bile count went from 13 before surgery
to 6 this morning...marked improvement.
andie was disappointed to hear the news. typical of her, she was
apologizing to me as if it was her fault. i told her what was important was to
get her out of there asap, and get her home.
we do not know what lies ahead, but we both agreed to not make a long drawn
out process of something that will not improve her quality of life. such a
regret with my mom's treatment, i don't want to see her go through that.
i would love to take her back to italia one last time if she has the
strength to make the trip...... never thought i would be saying that at this
point in my life. i know her heart will forever be among the hills of
tuscany.......
April 29, 2008
"post surgery report"
hi all,
like i told you before, i'm always bad news first, so buckle up, its going
to be a bumpy ride......
the tumor is growing in such a fashion and position as to make it
inoperable....... dr. barry had several strategies, but because the tumor has
wrapped around, invaded and is pulling on arterial and veinous tissues, removing
it proved impossible. it had spread more than what was visible to her in the
scans, and we knew there was a chance the vein resection and graft would be
possible. i guess i really had not planned for this large of set back.
andie is a trooper... managed to get through the surgery with flying
colors.... she was in a little bit of pain when we left her in icu. we will let
her know tomorrow the outcome, hopefully she will get a good night's sleep which
is long overdue..... the good news is that dr. barry has taken the hepatic duct
and reattached it to the intestine, basically bypassing the pancreas. this will
alleviate the jaundice and itching within 48 hours... a small improvement, but
good news none the less...
sorry to be the bearer of bad news..... thanks for all the calls and text
messages today... i hope you all understand about my nonavailabilty for the time
being... no calls for the 24-36 hours please. also, when andie comes home
(hopefully in a week), no calls before 8:30 or after 9. we don't know what will
happen next, except we need to get her healed from this proceedure and back on
her feet....
i will let you know when she can have visitors.
April 23, 2008
".....this just in....."
hi all,
our pre-surgery exam went well.... a nurse practitioner went over the
entire proceedure of what will happen before surgery.... the central line in the
neck kind of freaked andrea out... the intubation tube kind of worries her
too... i will ask the gas passer to wait until she is out to put the central
line in.... dr. barry has also said her earliest return to work date would be
july 31.
andrea wishes she can contact everyone personally, and appreciates the
cards, phonecalls, etc...
somen noodles in miso soup, chicken noodle soup, english muffins with egg
whites and cheddar, seems to be the standard fair, with slight
variations......chocolate ensure gets high marks from the judge too.... it's
hard to cook when i don't know what she wants until she wants it....
itching is a big problem... the build up of bile in her system is the
cause.... taking benedryl which helps a bit, but makes her groggy.... she still
is trying to make it the gym regularly, if nothing else, for the social
therapy.....
margie (andrea's mom) is coming sunday and maggy (andrea's best friend) is
coming tuesday. i think one of the hardest things for andrea will be the 7-10
day hospital stay without veronica. collecting her favorite pictures of the
princepessa for the hospital room.
thats all for now........
April 21, 2008
"the latest news"
hi all,
we just got back from the meeting with dr barry, our surgeon... i am
always let's have the bad news first, so here we go. although this is not the
worst possible scenario, its not the greatest either... it is adenocarcinoma,
the most common and agressive form of pancreatic cancer. it does not look like
there is surrounding lymph tissue involved, but won't know for sure until the
surgery. the problem may be the tumor has attached itself to an artery/vein. dr
barry may be able to peel the tumor off, or it may require resection and either
joining the 2 ends or taking a graft from the jugular vein. won't know until in
the or. we dont know if it has attached to any other ducts/ veins/ arteries. the
proceedure is called a whipple, and it means removing part of the pancreas, gall
bladder, intestine and possibly the stomach, and then making all the connections
back to the intestine. there will be drains placed at all these reconnections,
to monitor leakage and healing. a f eed tube may be placed, she won't know until
surgery.
surgery is scheduled for tuesday april 29th. we are going in for a
presurgery physical on wednesday. dr. barry thinks the proceedure will take 6-8
hours. we don't know what post operative treatment will be at this point.
thats all for now
April 17, 2008
hi,
well the tests are done and we are just waiting around for the news.... the
ct scan was done yesterday, and the ultrasonic endoscopy and biopsy were done
around noon today. andie is home and surprisingly coherent.... i was out for the
rest of the day when i had my endoscopy..... she is fighting the affects of the
anesthesia and mildly uncomfortable. i know the dr who performed the proceedure
today has spoken with the surgeon, at least he said he would speak to her after
it was done. hopefully we will hear something tomorrow, monday at the
latest.
she is eating some, not too much, but she manages to choke down a few
chef's best ensure every day.
that's all folks!