update from Seth

Hi Everyone. Thank you for keeping such a close watch on my Mother. She really has been teaching me about strength lately, and she surely is an amazing woman!

Anyway, it's almost 2pm on Monday and I just got a call from Mike who is with her for her procedure. She is out of the Operating Room and everything went as expected.

She will spend the night in the hospital so they can keep her on an IV for the night making sure he has antibiotics.

This procedure should really alleviate the discomfort in her tummy, so lets put our energy into making sure it worked!

All the best,
Seth

Three Units of blood

Hi Family and Friends,

   My blood level took a dive, and so the doctor ordered 3 units of blood.  What a difference!  Certainly explains the no energy level.  I think that was Wednesday.

   Today is Friday.  They took out the stitches from my procedure last week to cut the adhesions and drain the liquid.  And we had a little surprise - There was so much fluid built up again that the middle stitch hole started draining - a free drain!  Took us a while to realize that, then we sat there slowly letting it ooze out while the surgeon came.  The surgeon tried in vain to drain some more fluid his way, then he sewed up the stitches, added some super-glue to stop the leak, and we scheduled a procedure for this coming Monday.  Mike will come down this time to be with me.  This will take out the "Ometeum" and put in a Denver shunt.  Sounds a little bigger than the last procedure, but I'm in good hands down here.

   Thank you for following this saga.  I hope to report good news soon!

   Love,

      Carol

New challenges

   Dear Family and Friends,

   My ascites procedure was done by an excellent surgical oncologist, who came to the office.  Unfortunately, after several excursions into the peritoneal cavity, only a cup or two of fluid drained.  So the next day he returned with plans to do the same procedure with the sonagram, so he could see where the fluid was.  He saw that I have so many adhesions that there are small pockets.  The next procedure is to make a small incision and go into that area with a scope and open some pathways in the adhesions, then insert a drain.  So I'm still swollen and my feet need to be up.

   Thursday I will have a dental evaluation to see if I am hiding pockets of bacteria, especially under my 2 root canals.  Usually they pull all root canals, because the frequency of infections are great there.  Will report in after I get the results.

   My friend Kathy was here to keep me company, and now son Mike is coming Friday for the weekend.  Kathy was a great companion, and even stood in the room with the first drainage procedure, so that she could be the extra pair of ears that you need when a doctor tells you stuff.  Brave woman!

   We are still working on getting my blood levels up, and so I still have very little energy.  Or at least that is my excuse.

   I'm remaining in Tijuana, getting poked every day, and being a "good girl".  My lungs feel like they are continuing to heal.  We'll be able to see more once the CT Scan arrives from Kaiser and we do a new CT Scan to compare to it.

   Thank you so much for your thoughts and support.  I long to be healthy again.

   Love,  Carol

Constipation or other stuff

   Dear Family and Friends,

   You've been listening to me complain about constipation for quite a while now.  So we checked it out.  First I did a magnesium laxative, but it didn't seem to empty out the bowels all the way.  So then the doctor had me do the Go-Lightly thing, like before a colonoscopy, where you take a cup of the bad tasting liquid every 10 minutes, and then you evacuate all night.  Yuck!  But Seth is here visiting, so we did it, and my bowels were completely clear.  But I'm still full!

   So today, Tuesday, I had a chest X-Ray, lab tests, and a sonogram of my intestines.  Seems like I am draining fluid into my intestines and they are full of fluid.  This has a name, Ascites,  and could be pleural effusion (lungs with fluid).  So tomorrow or the following day, I will undergo a procedure to drain out this fluid, which should immediately make me feel better and not bloated all the time.

   I graduated to Step 3 of the Candida pills.  And am changing some of my supplements. Still not coughing very much!!  What a blessing!

   So another day closes.  I'll take my pills and shots and etc without complaining, because I can see the results.

   Love to you all,

      Carol