U of M

Oh, where to begin.

The last two days have been very tiring. I'm not sure I'll be able to get all the details down, because my thoughts are somewhat scattered, but I thought I needed to get out a post, because I'm sure there are people wondering how it is going.

Yesterday, we went to the U of M Cancer Center to get a 2nd opinion on Donna's situation. We had gone there before when Donna had her 2nd bout with cancer. We were going to see the same Dr. this time too. I could go into a lot of the details about what the Dr. said, but I'm going to give the bottom line. The Dr. basically said that Donna's liver is in bad shape. How bad, I cannot gauge exactly, but when doctors say it is not good, then you know it is really not good. Regardless of how her liver got bad, the fact now is that chemo may hurt her as much as it helps at this point. We always knew that chemo would be hard on the liver, and has the potential to "tax" the liver whenever chemo is given. That is the bottom line from the U of M.

Today I talked with our main oncologist. We agreed that that the best thing to do now is to see how Donna is responding to the new chemo over the next few days. If it seems like she is improving, then we will continue on the chemo regimen. If not, then we need to evaluate whether the dosage is reduced, or we take a break from chemo to see if things turnaround. Today she actually had a Boost shake and some raw milk for breakfast, and about 2/3 of another Boost around 3pm. This is significantly more than she has been eating over the last few weeks. I know that does not sound like a lot, and it isn't; so we are thankful that she's eaten that much today. We are going to try to get anything in her that she wants. She is still fighting nausea every once in a while; when it comes, it comes quickly.

The fluid build up has been greatly reduced since her last paracentesis, but not in the way you might think. They withdrew about 1-1/2 liters of fluid last Tuesday, but since then, she's been "leaking". There is a little drainage hole that did not get healed up, and the fluid is leaking out, pretty rapidly. So, we have to use an ostomy bag or other things to soak it all up. We are not sure when it will close up, but both St. Joe's, and U of M both looked at it.

We are still amazed and humbled at the number of people who are praying for Donna. Please don't stop! We covet your prayers. We are in the Valley of Vision... looking up for help.

Thanks,