And the fun just keeps rolling in...

I'd really like to post something exciting, positive and new.  I'll do a little bit of that at the end of the post, but for now we want to pass along some of the fun we've had since the last post.

The day after the last post Laurie had an MRI scheduled at Stanford to find out what was causing the sluggish blood flow in her left leg that was shown by the ultrasound a couple of weeks prior.  We went in for the MRI and while waiting for a disk of the images from the scan we received a call from Dr. Fisher's office telling us to go directly to the ER.  It turns out that Laurie had a blood clot from around her left knee up to her groin.   I made the error of not waiting for the disk and then heading to the ER at El Camino.  We went to the Stanford ER which was backed up and also run by committee.

Dr. Ghanouni called us while we were in the waiting room and eventually came over to meet us in the outer waiting room of the ER.  He had read the MRI and did a comprehensive report which he provided for us.  The MRI provided lots of interesting information, but the critical part is that there is a 3 x 3 1/2 cm mass which is pressing on her iliac vein and her left ureter.  We also believe it may be pressing on a nerve.  The pressure on the iliac vein had either stopped or was slowing down the vein to a degree that the blood clot had formed.

After a couple of hours we were taken into the ER area (yes, we were in the waiting area that long) and it was decided that she needed to be admitted.  They weren't going to do anything until Friday, but they didn't want her to be away from the attentive care just in case part of the clot were to break loose.

Friday morning the strategy was decided that they would do a procedure for the blood clot and insert a venous stent where the tumor is pressing on the vein to allow normal blood flow.  This means that they also needed to break up the clot and that could mean 24 hrs on an intravenous catheter with a tPA drip infusion.  They did the procedure in the later part of the afternoon on Friday.  The good news is the clot was starting to break itself apart, but they were unable to clear the clot.  That meant that Laurie needed to be immobile and on the intravenous catheter, infusing the clot-buster drugs, until Saturday afternoon.  At that time they would go back in to remove the catheter and insert the stent.   Sunday morning they did a brief procedure where they also inserted the ureter stent to resolve severe hydronephrosis of her left kidney.  Laurie came home from the hospital early Sunday afternoon.

So what does this all mean??   

Laurie's up and walking about the house.  The 3+ days in bed set the recovery of her back muscles back a bit.  She is going through physical therapy (PT) to work on the muscles and she's walking pretty normally most of the time.  She is still having a fair amount of pain in general and we're working through balancing the right pain medications with their effects on her head (most narcotics make her dizzy, which in turn cause effects you can guess).

You'll note that we're not posting the MRI results this time.  Let's just say that there's a lot going on and her cancer has progressed to a new stage.  We've had great care and treatment all along from various different teams and organizations.  Dr. Dormady has gone through all the standard and not so standard treatments for colon cancer.  We've also used some drugs that are non-standard, but had been shown through tests to impact Laurie's specific cancer.  We've even sent her information off to a team of experts that have concluded that we have received more aggressive and progressive treatment than we would have received anywhere.  We are indeed talking to hospice people and trying to get all those things put in place so they are ready when we need them.  We do appreciate those of you who have offered additional resources.

What are we doing?  

We're working through things.  We are making sure that all our doctors are in sync with what Laurie wants.   We are seeing some of Laurie's friends who are coming out to visit.  Also, Laurie is going to go on a special tour with IWS for a full day tour of Catalina and the restoration work they are doing with the Bald Eagles. This is a special trip for Laurie as the eagle restoration and the group that watches the eagle cams have been a special support and passion for her over the last several years. I've made arrangements to ensure that Laurie has a comfortable and nice trip to Catalina without all the stops along the way.

The plane I've chartered

(possible interior, I don't have actual photos of the inside)

I'm doing what I can to get Laurie there in style.  We'll post information about our trip when it's complete.