Staying Put

Mom's hematologist/oncologist (Dr. McCoy) came by for his morning rounds and was pleased with the CT scan results indicating tumor shrinkage. His major concern is the blood clot in mom's right leg. The blockage is significant - from her hip down to her knee - and there is substantial swelling and pain in her right leg. She'll continue to receive coumadin and hopefully we'll see results from the blood thinners over the next few days. Although it is very painful for her, she will need to get out of bed a few times today.

Her physicians have indicated that she'll need at least 3 more rounds of chemotherapy, and she is disappointed at that news. We'll continue to encourage her that "it's working, so keep going", but as all of us could imagine she's more-than-ready for the end of chemo to arrive. She still has the wound-vac on her abdomen, and we have not heard when they will be taking that off.

Mom is pretty groggy from the pain medication, and her voice is very weak. Communicating directly with her is a challenge on the phone right now.

Given the clot, mom will be in the hospital for quite some time. We can't say for sure, but likely another week. Accordingly, the family are going back into "shifts" mode. Howard (mom's youngest brother) is driving down today, and Jim (mom's younger brother) is coming in on Thursday. Heather will be in this weekend, and I'm driving down early next week. Mom has such a solid support network of friends, too. So many people have stopped by, and we especially thank Cindy for everything she has done for mom. Mom is so fortunate to have such loving friends.

We discourage calls to her room (so she can rest), and she can't really talk anyway due to the thrush. If you would like to send her a card, she is in room 205 of Montgomery Regional Hospital, 3700 South Main St, Blacksburg VA 24060.