Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Mom After a Long Day at the Cancer Center


Today was supposed to be mom's fifth dose. She was a little leery this morning that she wouldn't be able to get her chemotherapy. She's had a cough and shortness of breath for the last couple of weeks, and she was a little concerned about it.

So was the doctor. When she arrived, he brought her directly into his office, and had her get an x-ray to check for a possible blood clot in her lungs. The x-ray came up negative. He also did standard bloodwork, and my mom is pretty healthy. She is a little on the anemic side, but that is fairly common among American Indian people.

While the doctor was glad to see the negative x-ray, he wanted to be extra sure about things, so my mom had a CT scan of her chest. Again the results were negative--which was good. The doctor did notice some congestion in the lungs, so my mom is on a diuretic to try to get rid of the fluid.

The doctor also noticed what looked like a potential enlargement of her heart. (This is a possible side effects of one of the chemo drugs.)

Tomorrow morning she goes in for an echocardiogram. Friday she finds out the results, and so for the time being she is on hold for chemotherapy. Hopefully she will be able to get her dose Friday or Monday.

In the meantime, she has been tired, and a day of tests doesn't help that. But her disposition is as bright as ever. She is so filled with joy in the middle of it all, and peace and hope just radiate from her beautiful countenance.

to quote Stevie Wonder, "Isn't she lovely?" (By the way, I have been singing that to her all day.)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You are a wonderful son; you're parents have been blessed to say the least! Your mom looks great, how are her spirits? Still up, I'm sure?