Well I have had one heck of a summer. Memorial day weekend as my Mom was watching my youngest 2 kidlets for the weekend (at her requet). I get a call that she is yellow and what should she do. I tell her to call her Dr on call. We would be right over to get the kids. My Dad takes her to the Hosp (they are divorced but very good friends still). After a week in the Hosp we find out that her Colon Cancer is back and this time it spread to her Liver or Pancreas. They were not 100% sure because of where her organs lie.
She came home and within 1 week. Me and my 2 youngest Kidlets moved in to help take care of her. She was so weak she couldn't even bathe herself or anything that required strength or stamina. I stepped in to help her with herself, her house and her job. She was an apt manager for 35 apartments.
A few weeks later after seeing the oncologist and a PET Scan. Seeing the general surgeon to get a Port-a-cath put in for the Chemo. The Morning she was to go have the Port put in. We got quite a few calls from the Dr's (Oncologist and Surgeon) That plans have changed and that she will be admitted into the hosp instead of having the surgery. After finally asking what is going on. They finally tell me her Bilirubin is to high and so is her WBC and her RBC is to low. That she would need atleast 2pts of blood. That all happened the 1 night I stayed at my house because my Auntie P came the night before to help because I had a Dr's appt for my Venefer Infusion and needed someone to help take care of my Mom post surgery and watch my 2 kidlets because they are not allowed to be there with me because they do Chemo there also.
Got to Moms house. Had to have my 20yo watch the kidlets. Got my Mom packed and to the Hosp just a mile away from her houseAbout 9am. They get her all admittted and IV started. Blood cross & type done. Then the Oncologist comes and tells us that he has been talking to a Dr in Stanford and the only way to get her seen by him STAT is to transfer from a Hosp to Stanford. So that is the new game plan. We would start ABX and Blood Transfer and then wait for Transport for her. About 10pm at night the Transport is there and ready to take her. Aunt and I follow as close as I safely could. As we were behing the Ambulance 99% of the way there. My Mom kept waving to us. We kept waving back. Only she was trying to tell me I was to close and to leave more room. LOL. I was not about to lose that ambulance as I had no idea how to get to Stanford on my own. We got ther and got her all settled and paperwork done by about 3am. At that point we did not want to drive home 1 1/2-3 hours drive depending on traffic. Because the Dr's do rounds between 5:30-7 am. My Aunt slept in the Lobby on a chair and ottoman as a makeshift bed. I didnt sleep but stayed in my Moms room with her and her room mate. they did give us blankets and pillows. I was freezing coming from the valley where it was almost 100* that day to 50* at night was not good. I did not have a sweater or anything.
So Dr's do rounds and they ask me if I can get a copy of the latest PET Scan. I am off on a Internet hunt for the place we had it done and to see if they are open and having the Dr's fill out the forms ready to fax them over so I could get them if I could. Only it is Sat and both her Oncologist and the Imaging offices are both closed. So they decide to do a scan that day. After the scan we are told what the problem is. The cancer tumor is pressing on the billiary tree and not letting the liver drain of all the waste it has filtered out of the blood and because of that it can not filter the blood anymore. So they decide they need to put liver drains in. Dr V wants to put 2 in and RM has their own opinion and only does 1. All this time we are told as soon as her Bili and WBC # go down she can go home.
So she has the procedure to put in the liver drains on her all of this. I hear news that gives me hope and lets me put my guard down. He tells me that she is very treatable and once they can shrink the tumor and remove it surgically she should live a long and happy life.. I was so overwhelmed with that news. I had a Meneires attack right in the hallway outside of her room. I was so greatful that my Aunt J was right there with me. I just leaned back against the wall and slid down. She checked my Blood Surgar to make sure that wasn't the issue as I tend to be Hypoglycemic especially under Stress. #'s were good though. So I wind up taking valium. 6mg of valium over the ret of the day and the spinning did not stop. That day Mom was also admitted to ICU because her HR was almost 200 and her BP was falling. She wound up spending 3 days in ICU before returning to the reg surg ward.
Well ovver the next 6 weeks. 3 more Liver drains were put in. 2 in the left lobe and 2 in the right lobe. Her #'s would go down. Then they would go back up again. In 64 days at Stanford she got between 11-13 pints of blood transfused. She enver stopped running fevers. The highest were over 104*
At the end of August they decided to transfer her to the Oncology ward to see of they could start Chemo despite her Labs being so bad.They did a Biopsy of the tumor. So they can determine if it is the Colon Cancer that has spred or if it is a new type of cancer. Prelim results are that it is Colon cancer. So they start a low dose of Xeloda. after 1 1/2 weeks it is determined that her liver can not handle the chemo. In the mean time they are still typing the cancer cells and testing all the chemos against it.
On Sept 2nd. I get the worst call of my life. Without any of us being there. Mom was told that her cancer is not treatable and that she needs to make the decision on where to go. As Stanford can not treat her anymore. She calls me and asks me what I want her to do. She wants to do what is easiest on my. I tell her it doesnt matter what is easiest. Only what she wants. She tells me she really wants to come home. My response is then that is what will happen. Aunt and I call her 2 other siblings. Call the rest of the family and let them know. My Aunt Pam packed a bag and stayed the last week with her in the hosp. Thanks to a ver careless CNA my Mom wound up with C-Diff on top of every thing elese. I stayed home to deal with the rentals and rent collection. Also getting everything lined up with Hospice to get her home.
Sept 9th about 7pm I brought my Mom home. She slept almost the entire way home. The awsome part was we had the most amazing lightening stoms the entire way home. My Mom would have loved it. it took 2 1/2 hours to get home with a quick run for food for me. I was not able to eat the entire day because of nerves. We got her home and settled into the Hosp Bed in the living room.
We had her home 3 weeks and 1 day before she went home to be with her Lord.
I miss her every single day!
