A Visit with the Oncologist

Today was a pretty big day for us. While we have been focusing so much on Mom's recovery from all that has happened during the past 2 months, we have had to also consider the colon cancer diagnosis. Today we had a consultation with the oncologist and learned what her options are.

With everything spelled out, the future looks a bit better than we originally thought. He felt that the surgeon got all of the tumor during surgery on Jan. 20. She has about 50% chance of recurrence without chemo. With chemo the chance of recurrence is about 40%. So after discussing all of this among ourselves and with the doctor, we opting for no chemo. She will visit the oncologist once a month for lab work and a physical for the next 3 months. If things are clear,then she will go every 3 months. Eventually we will probably go for palliative/hospice care but it looks like that is farther away than we thought.

So...we will continue to work on Mom's recovery with physical therapy, exercise, and occupational therapy while keeping an eye on everything. We are going to do all possible to keep her out of the hospital, too.

Busy Week Around Here

This week sure seemed to go by quickly. Mom restarted her physical and occupational therapy and that can make her pretty tired. We are trying to especially stretch out the muscles and tendons in her elbow since things there are quite stiff and tight. She was able to fold laundry which was a good exercise in getting things back to normal.

She also had follow-up visits with her primary care doctor and surgeon. The doctors are happy with the way her surgical incision is healing. The one thing we are still dealing with is a lack of appetite. We are getting a bit of help in that area as she got a prescription for an appetite stimulant. She is really trying hard to eat and I have tried to fix appealing food so we hope that she will get that appetite back soon.

Still having some problems with severe itching attacks and we are combating that with some anti-itch cream and Benadryl, per suggestions from her primary care doctor.

Tomorrow Alan will be coming up to stay with her for the coming week. I will temporarily relinquish my nursing duties and go home to catch up on various tasks and chores there and take a bit of a break.

Cast off!

We finally had some good news today. Mom had a check up with the orthopedic surgeon and her elbow was healing so well that he took her cast off. She has had either a soft or hard cast on since Dec. 30 so today was a VERY welcome milestone.

Her body has adjusted to the blood thinners, except for some bouts of severe itching, and the swelling in her leg has really gone down. We will be going for a check up tomorrow to have all of her labs reviewed. Without jinxing anything, we really hope that she has turned a corner. Thank God for backscratchers, too!

I also saw some progress yesterday when she emptied the dishwasher and vacuumed her whole place. For someone who spent much of January and quite a bit of February in a hospital bed, this made her feel like pretty good. There is no wild and riotous living on the calendar but things are definitely better.

Operation Recovery

We've enjoyed a couple of days of gorgeous, spring weather around here with the sun shining and warm temperatures. Mom and I had a chance yesterday to go out for a short walk. She got tuckered out but it helped us both to get out of the house.

Her body is trying to adjust to the blood thinning medicine. She has been sensitive to cold for quite some time but this stuff is really enhancing that sensitivity. Another side effect that she is experiencing is itching, though we feel some of this can be attributed to things healing up. We are watching this carefully and may have to adjust the dosage. We are concentrating on building her stamina and getting her to do more things independently.

We experienced a pretty big milestone yesterday in regard to general aging. She decided to give up driving and yesterday we donated the car to charity. She was ready for this step but it gave us both pause when she saw the car on the flatbed.

Tom will be coming over today for a while so I can go to the grocery store and stock up. She is not yet ready for that experience but hopefully will be soon. I am doing pretty well but don't think any nurses have to fear for their jobs.

More rough moments

We're beginning to wonder if the stars and planets are really out of alignment, particularly regarding Mom's recovery. After being discharged last Tuesday, her left leg started swelling late Wednesday. There was no pain but it wasn't decreasing by Thursday. I got her scheduled for an ultrasound on Friday and they discovered a blood clot in a vein that runs from below her stomach to her knee. At first they were going to administer some fast-acting clot busting drugs and also surgically implant a filter that would catch any floating clots. At the last minute that was nixed because of her recent surgeries. The doctors finally decided that the best thing to do was to load her up on the anticoagulant, Heparin, and observe.

So she was back in the hospital for another stint of 4 days. She was discharged yesterday and is now on more anticoagulants. We are going back to the home nursing and therapy schedule and feel we are kinda going back to square one. Mom has had some rough moments over the past few days but we are concentrating getting enough rest and good, non-hospital food.

Good Napping!

Mom has been resting and napping a lot today. It was a great day for these activities since it was so cold around here. Alan, Anna, and Ridley headed for home today and so I will be staying with her for the foreseeable future. Every day there is a slight improvement in either appetite or movement and that's progress!

Home at last!

Mom was discharged yesterday and is VERY happy to be home! She had a far more restful night, sleeping in her own bed, without having someone coming in to take vitals or draw blood at all hours. As soon as she is able, we will resume the rehab schedule that she started last week.

Alan, Anna, and Ridley are staying with her now but will heading back home very soon. I will be staying with Mom and, with help from Tom and her friends, caring for her for the near future.

Keep those emails coming...we love hearing from you all!

Things getting a little better

Mom is still in the hospital but is a bit better. Needless to say, she is sick and tired of being sick and tired. The doctors are hopeful that this wallop of antibiotics is taking care of everything. It does appear that the antibiotics are making headway. We are not sure when she will be discharged but feel she is getting closer.

More hospital time

Mom is back at Fairfax Hospital today. Sudden and severe pain erupted on her right side late yesterday. After several tests, the doctors have determined her gall bladder is now out of whack. She has been receiving pain killers and antibiotics and we are desperately hoping that this can resolve itself. No one wants another surgery.

While in the ER last night, one of the residents who was on the previous treatment team, came in and she recognized him. When his pager/cell went off, she told him that he should answer immediately since it could be his girlfriend and he needed to spend time with her. We all enjoyed a light moment!

One week out of the hospital...

Just got home from spending most of today with Mom. She had a good day! Alan is staying with her for a few more days and we are tag teaming her care for now. Once he goes back to Raleigh, I will be with her 24/7 until she gets cleared to be on her own.


We are also getting a schedule together with the home nursing team and we've been having a number of evaluations with that group. The home nursing team includes a physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech and language pathologist, and home care aide. When those folks are not there, Alan and I work with her on building her strength.


She has had some trouble with confusion which we are attributing to a couple of things. Anesthesia can do a number on the thinking processes of many elderly people, Mom included. She had two major surgeries within a week and the care team feels that with all of the anesthesia she had pumped into her system, it has been difficult for her. She is catching up on restful, natural, recuperative sleep (nearly impossible to get in a hospital) and that should help, too. That said, we sat down this afternoon and worked on finances and bills. She did great!!

Many thanks for your phone calls, cards, and prayers. We have a way to go on this unexpected journey and greatly appreciate the love and positive vibes you have been sending our way.

Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next.
~Gilda Radner