Finally MD Anderson, but Not as Planned!!

Karla and her husband transported Kathy the MD Anderson ER with a trail of cars following her. Kristi was in Kathy's van with the girls (Tiffany and Kayli), Sherri and me in her truck, and Steven and Alex in his car. Oh and Paul Neal (Kathy's brother) came too. After waiting of course for some time, everyone went home assured she was being taken care of. I didn't have anything pressing at home so I stayed with Kathy. She was given a room about 5a.m. Monday and not long after took her to get a chest ct scan. She couldn't lay flat (we TOLD them she couldn't) but both people tried to get her to. So, after waiting for transportation back to her room, we arrived about 7:30. We were both really tired, but things had to be done to give her the best care. So enters someone about every 15 minutes. I'm not complaining, just stating facts. She had become accustomed to sleeping sitting up with her head hanging down, so I guess she was able to rest her eyes a little. She just didn't look very comfortable to me, but she said she was "ok". "It's OK" and/or "I'm sorry" has been adopted as her motto. Sherri, Paul and Frances, and Karla and Kayli came up in the afternoon. Barby also came up for a little while and gave me a ride home. Bill Downs showed up at Kathy's house about the same time we did to get my truck. He was going to mow Kathy and Roy's yard. He was instructed to mow the grass and weed-eed only; NOT to bother any of the stuff laying around the yard. That was hard for Bill, as he wanted to organize and clean up, but Roy knows what he has and where it is. Roy was going to be upset enough when he realized someone had mowed, so to bother things would have been over the top.

Karla stayed with Kathy the first night, and by the time I got there the next morning, they had drained the fluid off Kathy. That alone made all the difference in the world. If those pesky tumors had not invaded her body, you would have wondered why she was in a hospital bed. That lasted for 2 days, by Thursday the fluid had started to accumulate again. Tuesday, before going to MDA, I dropped by Conroe ICU to visit Roy, who was waiting on a room by now. Now they weren't sure if he had a blood clot at all. I talked to Babbie and she said the place is full and probably wouldn't get a room that day. Later, that day, I got a text from Babbie via Kathy Blakeman that he had been moved to room 444.

So back to Kathy---- she was able to lie flat for the chest ct scan on Tuesday. YEA!!!! She was so proud of herself. Good job Kathy!!! We were told the doctors would have a meeting with us, the next day--Wednesday at 1p.m. to give us her options. Kristi spent the night with Kathy Tuesday.

Wednesday came and I dropped by to see Roy on the way to MDA. He was improving each day and was supposed to be having a ct scan to see if blood clot was present and to see if peumonia had subsided any. The meeting was held with Dr. Kim (melanoma clinic) and just a little later the cardiologist-Dr. Daher met with us. There were no options given at this time as previously told, but they did do a good job explaining what was taking place in her heart. I understood it, but don't ask me to relay the info; I'd surely get it wrong. The scan revealed the mitra valve was leaking because of the mass pressing on it and this is where the fluid was coming from. I'm not sure why Conroe drs. could not see that in their scans????? Doesn't matter, the result is still the same. There's nothing that could be done. She was to have a pelvic ct scan later that day to see where all the cancer had spread and would have another meeting Thursday at 9a.m. to discuss options then for sure. Her brother Paul and Frances would leave for Colorado, Thursday morning. She had the scan done late and finally got to eat something. Inez Staton dropped by and spent the day. Good times!! Kristi spent Wednesday night with her. During the night they tried to put a picc line in her arm 2 times but both times the wire was going up her neck, instead of down to her heart. Not much sleep was gotten by either of them. This line served sort of like a port-a cath (Not sure of spelling) for chemo if decided on, pain meds or anything.

Thursday--the meeting at 9a.m. took place. The scan revealed the cancer was in her liver, kidney and lymph nodes around her pancreas. Chemo might would shrink tumors enough to give her a bit of relief but in her case the mass in the heart causes concern on her heart to be able to deal with chemo. 10-15% chance in normal circumstances but more like 5% in her case. The chemo would give her 4-6 months, maybe; and doing nothing would give her 2-3 months, maybe. She was pretty sure of her decision and the girls supported whatever she wanted to do. She wanted to talk to Roy to see if he was ok with her decision and he was. It is what it is. She did not want to suffer side effects from chemo coupled with the downslide of the disease. They took her away mid afternoon to try the picc line again but in radiology so they could see as they did it. They tested her lying flat and she could not do it, so back to the room she came after a long time. (waited on transportation) Her and I had a very late lunch and a late supper, because she couldn't have food or drink before the precedure. I spent the night with her Thursday night.

Friday morning--plan was to put a catheter in her side so we could drain it at home. Dr. told us that would not be possible b/c the mass was in the way and putting it in the back was not tolerated very well. With that settled she could go home today with hospice care. The heart people would come by and turn off the defibrillator of the pacemaker so that it would not continuously shock her. Jerry Giese came by for a visit and was inducted for duty, to see that the sofa was moved out of the house. Mission accomplished!! Thanks Jerry! Hospice rep came by to deal with paperwork and we were set to go except for getting in traffic, so the safe plan was to wait til 6:30, plus she needed to urinate after having the cath in. So except for oxygen, she was free of all wires and tubes for the 2nd half of the day. Barby came by with chic-fa lay. (sp, o my goodness) A late lunch again b/c of plan for the drainage cath, that did not take place. She got a special ride home in a red ambulance with equipment already in place waiting for her at home. The admissions nurse was behind it and I was behind her. The nurse turned out to be my daughter's best friend's mother. Made me more at ease with the process. Jerry Giese, Perry and Noelle had come earlier to move sofa out and Noelle vacuumed the den to make room for the bed. Bless them!! She was met at home finally with her beloved Roy, granddaughter Tiffany, daughter Kristi and sister-in-law Tilda. Daughter, Karla and granddaughter Kayli came shortly after with food for everyone. I left to be home with Wayne. Will write more later.

Kudos mucho to MD Anderson!!!!!! Everyone there is a delight to connect with!!!