Good and Bad

It's been a rather busy week.

Easter Sunday I was once again at the ER with the wife. Once more they pumped her full of fluids and couldn't figure out what was wrong.

Tuesday she got in touch with her original oncologist and set up an appointment with him, a little more than an hour's drive away.

Yesterday we went to the appointment and got the low down on her condition. For the first time I know what type of cancer she has (adenocarcinoma) and what stage (it was at I but is now at IV since she has tumors in the liver now, not surprising since the liver filters the "dead" cancer cells out of the blood). That the cancer has now spread to other organs besides the lung is the bad news.

The liver shouldn't be a major issue since the tumor can be removed and the liver is the only organ that will regenerate. He is scheduling the surgery now.

The good part about all that is the tissue that is removed from the liver can then be analyzed to refine the treatment method. Since it's now a stage IV it is now classified as "incurable" but since the tumors have not been shrinking since the end of radiation treatments this does not come as a huge shock.

The doc that is looking after her now was the one that was looking after her in the beginning. He left the local clinic due to a disagreement with the head doc; he is in favor of more aggressive and experimental treatments and the head doc tends to stick with the old ways. He's kind of upset that her cancer has progressed as much as it has, he is of the opinion that the treatments were not aggressive enough and if they had been she would be at stage I still.

At least we are getting some clear feedback now, it has been a while since that has happened. I'm willing to make the longer drive if it means she gets better care. I know how it eventually ends, but the longer we can put that end out into the future the better.

She did not get the med port put in, by the way. She's still going to get it done, it just hasn't happened yet.

Anyway, back to the chain of events. Yesterday at the doc's office she told him she could feel another episode coming on, and sure enough before it even got dark outside she was sick again. We called the doc and he said to bring her to the hospital by his clinic, the one that is a bit over an hour away.

She's there now resting comfortably and he says he will have her until Tuesday at the earliest. I'll go back to work tomorrow and Tuesday will know if I need to go get her or not. It is my fondest hope that he will be able to figure out what's causing the nausea and make it not happen any more. He seems to have a pretty good handle on it, so we will see.

In the meantime the car that we will be using for this soon-to-be regular commute needs front struts, tires and a timing chain. These are all items that have been needed for a while but pushed back because of this or that.

If it is going to get all these miles stacked up on it they need to get done sooner rather than later. I have all the front end parts, Eldest Son will be putting them on and then I'll go get the tires and alignment done. The timing chain will get done when the next round of funds come in.

I think I'll be happy to go back to work. I need the rest.