update on my mom

I posted this over on facebook, but I know there are probably a few people out there who read this, but not facebook, so I’m copying it over to here as well.

okay, several people have asked what is going on with my mom. so here's the basic scoop. my mom as about 13 carcinoids on her liver (essentially, liver cancer). she has knows this for about 2 years. the course of action thus far, has been just to monitor them, as they are very slow growing, and treatment options are limited. lately, she has become very uncomfortable, and a ct scan revealed that her liver was very enlarged, and therefore pressing on her other organs. they determined that the best course of action would be to do a liver embolization, in which they basically cut off the blood supply to half of the liver at a time, in order to shrink the carcinoids. the did the first proceedure on wednesday, the 17th. (the second is roughly planned for a month later, depending on her recovery from this one.) the first couple of days were rough, as general pain, as well as severe nausea are the expected results. after that, she was told to expect more flu-like symptoms, high fever, chills, etc. apparently, messing with the liver is not something the body likes. when my dad and i went to visit her on saturday, we found her very aggitated, confused, and not at all herself. the nurses said she'd been like that when her medication wears off since the previous night. it was very disheartening and we were concerned, as we were not expecting it. my dad spoke with the doctor yesterday morning and he assured him that this was a normal reaction to the elevated liver enzymes (a result of the procedure), and that, according to her labs from the morning, they were starting to come down slightly, so we could expect gradual improvement. that was encouraging. yesterday, she was still aggitated, and they are mostly keeping her medicated (and therefore asleep) to help her rest and heal. my dad was planning to go back this morning, and i imagine i'll go in at some point today. her regular doctor was scheduled to be in this morning, and so my dad was hoping to be there at the same time as him, so he could talk to him. labs were going to be done again today, so hopefully there is more improvement with the numbers on the liver enzymes. but they had expected her to remain in the hospital at least though wednesday.

i'm so thankful to everyone for their prayers, kind words, and support for me and my family right now. it's a tough time for us, but we're hopeful that once she pulls through this part of it, she'll be okay and on the road to recovery, and hopefully be able to head home soon. please continue to pray for her. i will update soon on her status.

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rachel's continued ramblings

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