So Mom was originally supposed to meet with the surgeon tomorrow, but we met with him Friday, and he gave us a surgery date - MAY 13! Mom is nervous but way ready to move on with this, so she asked him if he could go ahead and just do it right then and there. Uh, no. He did say, however, that after she was finished with Friday night's TPN, she wouldn't need anymore since she is able to eat so well on her own now. (That's awesome news by the way)! He also ordered for the PICC line to be removed tomorrow - yay! They had thought about keeping the line in for post-surgery, but it does increase the risk of infection so we're all glad they're removing it.
As most of my blogs have been, I know this is TMI, but it's amazing news so I don't care. About a week ago, Mom had the first painless BM she's had in a LONG time. From then to now, they haven't all been painless, but at least it's not like they were even a month ago. She has also been eating complete meals. She was up to 98.8 lbs Friday (exactly 1 lb lower than her original weight...weight upon entering treatments), and tonight she was right at 99. They say that she'll lose about 10% of her body weight after surgery, so we're trying to pile on the weight right now. I'd like to take it to 110, but in 2 weeks...I don't think that's possible for my mom. Let's see if we can get it to at least 102-104. The only downside to trying to fatten her up is that it's getting to the rest of us. By the rest of us I mean me. You know what, though? I can't complain. My mom would give anything to be able to gain a good 10 lbs.
Okay, so Mom's last surgery was supposed to be this procedure that they do all the time - a complete hysterectomy. Well, it ended up going very badly, and they kinda messed up her bladder quite a bit...a lot. She had issues with that for months and months, and to this day there are things that could go wrong with it. Medical stuff seems to wreak havoc on her body because she is so small and her body kinda frail. With that history, Mom is understandably nervous about this surgery.
The surgery involves some major procedures. Yes, they'll remove about 4 inches from her colon (not much compared to how long it is). They'll then do what's called an ileostomy - uh...basically the surgeon takes a part of the small intestine outside of her skin (like where you and I can see it), and her waste goes into this pouch. Okay so many of you have probably seen this stuff, but I hadn't so I thought it was pretty crazy when I saw pictures (you should definitely Google if you haven't seen this before).
So the ileostomy is temporary as long as they're able to save her rectum (again TMI). If they are, she'll have the bag for the 6-8 weeks of recovery and also for the post-op chemo (post-op meaning post operation, not optional). The type and length of time of the chemo will depend on more pathology reports from the removed tumor. Yes, they already did biopsies, etc. Yes, MD Anderson knows what they're doing when it comes to biopsies. I was asked the other day how it was that they don't know already about the tumor. Uh, yes, the already know, and they've done the biopsies. They just have to do more to test every part of it and things that are just too difficult to explain. Blah blah. So then they'll let us know for sure exactly what kind of chemo Mom will need. She'll do that for 6 weeks to 6 months. We'll see. They want to keep the ileostomy in for that length of time, and then remove it after the chemo...another surgery.
Yes, we have more and more ahead, but we take it one day and one step at a time. Right now we're focusing on sleeping. My aunt Janet has a procedure to remove some pre-cancerous tissue from her breast tomorrow morning, and we'll be up around 4 am. (Please say a lil prayer for her. Yes, we're glad they caught this so very early, but any surgical procedure gets a bit nerve-wracking...especially when the word 'cancer' is involved...whether its pre or whatever.)
Okay, so friends, family - I can't thank you enough for your prayers for my mom. We really do appreciate you so very much. We couldn't make it without you. We need you. I need you. Thank you for your emails, text messages, voice mails, calls, everything. I know I haven't responded to much, but it's not because I don't care. Time gets to be limited, but I'm doing my best during these days in which my mom feels so much better. Again, thank you from US. I tell my mom about all of the people praying for her (some of whom I'm sure I don't even know), and she is overwhelmed with thanks. So, THANK YOU.
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