My mom

PJ · Post by PJ » Mon Nov 12, 2007 10:23 pm

I bet you're wondering why I am asking for prayer for my mom. Well, the doctor said that my mother has two kidney stones in her left kidney. One is "good-sized" and the other is a bit smaller. She also has what appears to be a stone in her distal ureter or the flebila.

We went to see the urologist for a check-up last Friday. My mom doesn't think she's passed the stones yet. I think she might've passed part of one. Her pain level is still at 10.

Tomorrow she is scheduled for a cystoscopy, a ureteroscopy, a pyelogram, and laser lithotripsy. They may also give her a double J stint to help pass the stones. She will have anesthesia and be sedated - it's pretty invasive. The nurse asked my mother that if at any time during the procedure she needs a pint of blood, that it would be okay to give to her. She said yes. She won't be able to eat at least eight hours prior to the procedure. She will be allowed to take most of her medicine, but none of the diabetic ones. If she dies on the operating table, they will NOT resuscitate her. She has a DNR, which stands for "Do Not Resuscitate".

The procedure is set for 3:45 PM on Tuesday the 13th of November, though we're supposed to be there at 1:45 PM. They may take her sooner, if they aren't very busy. We need your prayers. They will be greatly appreciated.

Although I thought this would have to happen, I was hoping that she would pass the stones on her own.

Abigail · Post by **Abigail** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 7:41 am

Wow, I will be praying for her.

-Abigail

DrummerChick · Post by **DrummerChick** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 3:51 pm

Hope everything went well and I will be praying for her.

Azariah Ben Yaakov · Post by **Azariah Ben Yaakov** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 5:35 pm

I will certainly be praying.

FrayedAroundTheEdges · Tue Nov 13, 2007 6:41 pm

wow...i definitly know what its like to have your mom sick

im so srry! Ill def pray

god bless u an ur madre!!

PJ · Post by PJ » Wed Nov 14, 2007 8:31 pm

They were supposed to be outpatient procedures, but we had to stay the night and today. The urologist wasn't even able to do the ureteroscopy, pyelogram or laser lithotripsy, due to a big mass/legion in her bladder. He said he doesn't know what it could be if it's not cancer, though he's not for sure that it is cancer. If you were looking at a clock, the mass is about the size from 11 to 2. The doctor did say that the stones are the least of our worries at this point. We're going to focus on the mass. We should know more tomorrow or Friday. We are home now though.

Thank you all for praying; please don't stop.

Laurie · Post by **Laurie** » Thu Nov 15, 2007 11:04 am

I am

. Please keep us updated when you can.

Angel · Post by **Angel** » Thu Nov 15, 2007 6:24 pm

I'll be praying PJ.

Lucy Pevensie · Post by **Lucy Pevensie** » Fri Nov 16, 2007 6:42 am

Aw PJ, I'm praying!

PJ · Post by PJ » Fri Nov 16, 2007 10:51 am

The doctor called and said the mass/lesion is malignant cancer.

My mom took the call, but I was right there. I'll keep updating you as often as I know something else.

That's all we know right now.

Thank you for praying. Please continue to.

EDIT: My mom's doctor called and said what kind it is, but I can't find the correct spelling. It's a cancer that is rarely in the bladder. Radiation won't work. The bladder and all pelvic apparatus has to be removed. She will have an Ileal conduit. She will still be on the same pain medicine along with 15mg of morphine 2x a day.

It's not fair.

Thank you for all of your prayers. They mean so much to us.

Laurie · Post by **Laurie** » Fri Nov 16, 2007 5:03 pm

I understand how you feel about your mom. I lost my mother to cancer (not the kind your mom has) in 1998. I will be

for you, your mom and the rest of your family. Please continue to update us when you can.

Angel · Post by **Angel** » Fri Nov 16, 2007 5:29 pm

I'll keep praying.

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » Fri Nov 16, 2007 8:43 pm

I'm praying.

Jeremy

DrummerChick · Post by **DrummerChick** » Fri Nov 16, 2007 11:31 pm

I am praying ral hard for yu guys. I am always there to talk to.

Lucy Pevensie · Post by **Lucy Pevensie** » Sun Nov 25, 2007 7:35 pm

I'm praying still . . . Keep us updated--

Abigail · Post by **Abigail** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 7:47 am

As others have said, I will keep praying.

PJ · Post by PJ » Wed Nov 28, 2007 11:13 pm

Thank you.

The Dr.'s office and hospital called yesterday morning.

She has an appointment on December 17th at 8AM. They had trouble finding her a doctor because she's self-pay. We don't know if the surgery will be the same day or later.

The hospital is an hour and forty-five minutes away. That's pretty much all we know.

PJ · Post by PJ » Thu Jan 10, 2008 9:56 pm

Part 1: She had a doctor's appointment on Monday the 17th. We had to be there around 7 -7:15 AM, even though her appointment was at 8 AM. We had to register and do all that stuff and then we met the doctor, he was really nice. She had some labs done. He scheduled my mom for a bone scan and a CT scan. One was at the hospital and one was at the cancer center, for some reason the nurse said they were booked at both places, so they couldn't do both in one place. So, we drove to the hospital. They didn't tell us where to go and they didn't know she was scheduled for anything. - We think it just didn't get registered yet, but then they called and confirmed it. They took us to another area of the hospital, where she was injected with what was supposed to be the dose for the bone scan. The tech injected her and then said he would be right back - under a minute. He had to take the "calcium" into the room he got it from since it is radioactive. Ten minutes later he came back with another guy and they told us that they made a mistake. My mom was injected with stuff for a P.E.T. scan which is a scan of the soft tissue. They told us that they actually thought that this test was better to detect cancer and since it was their mistake, we wouldn't have to pay for it! Yea! A blessing in disguise! They also told us that they could do the P.E.T. scan and the CT scan at the same time. Well, one right after the other! They also told us that the doctor may not even need a bone scan after the P.E.T. scan and if he does then we could do that in our hometown. So, the day was shorter, we didn't have to go back and forth, and my mom was finally able to eat something a lot sooner than we thought. We were also able to leave KC sooner! Yea! So the "mistake" was our blessing.

Part 2: The doctor called on December 21st. She has a persistant infection in her bladder. - We knew that. He was supposed to get the results back from the culture by the time he called, but he didn't.

The cancer is a stage 3. She has it in her lymph nodes near her bladder. The tumor is a grade 3 also. He said my mom has Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cancer of the bladder.

The best option so far is chemotherapy. He wants to shrink the cancer in the lymph nodes, then once it is confined and small enough, we can talk about surgery. She had chemotherapy through an IV (PICC line) the first time for 6 hours and then about 2 hours last week.

The first time, she was be admitted to the hospital for a 5 days to see how her heart was and to see how her body would handle the chemo. As well as to get her pain under control. Her pain level used to be 9-10 (which is the highest), but now it's down to a 4-5! God is good!

Part 3:
Ever notice the "mother" in chemotherapy before? Not like it means anything. It's just interesting and I'm tired.

My mother, Trudi, had chemotherapy Friday night, December 28th. It went quite well. She didn't get nauseous at all. She was even hungry for breakfast. She hadn't been nauseous from the chemo until her second treatment and it's only been a few times. Praise God! The main problem is that she doesn't have an appetite, nothing sounds good and she doesn't eat much, but she usually isn't nauseous. She's really hungry, as she should be. One day all she had was: a bowl of cereal, a cup of jello and three bites of a waffle. She said she just couldn't eat anymore. This concerns me. At the hospital she was on a 2088 calorie, sodium free, diabetic diet. Then they changed it to just a sodium free, diabetic diet, which of course is due to her not eating. To me, I don't think it should really matter what she eats, as long as she eats. They wouldn't even let her have cheese. If she wants cheese here at home, you better believe I'm going to give it to her. I want her to eat more.

She was admitted on Thursday the 27th...after waiting in the Hospital Admittance office for 7 hours!!! We arrived at 10:30 AM and her room wasn't ready until 5:30 PM. She didn't bring any medicine with her, because she was told they would make her feel better. We were not happy to say the least, although we were quite patient. She cried quite a few times because of the pain. It was not a good day for her. This hospital is 2 hours away, so 9 hours of unpleasantness = not fun for Trudi. We ended up staying until Monday the 31st. She lost eight pounds while being in the hospital for only 5 days.

That's not good. As she's not eating much here at home, I'm sure she's losing more. This really concerns me as well.

She had another appointment on Friday the 4th for another round of chemotherapy. This one was only about 2 hours. It was an outpatient procedure.

She was supposed to have another round of chemotherapy tomorrow the 11th, but her white blood cells and hemoglobin are too low.

Please keep praying that everything will go smoothly, that she will eat more and that God will get the glory through this.

I'm sorry I'm not updating very well and that my thoughts are a bit jumbled. The reason I don't update very well is because I'm lazy. If there is anything else you want to know, don't be afraid to ask. I'm fine with whatever you'd like to ask me.

JesusIsAlive · Post by **JesusIsAlive** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 10:13 pm

I'll definitely be praying, PJ. *nods*

Angel · Post by **Angel** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 10:13 pm

I will keep on praying. It must be hard.

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