SHE'S DONE!!!

The day that she has been looking forward to for 16 weeks now has finally come. Yesterday, Mom completed her 16 weeks of chemo. I am pretty sure she would agree that this has been the longest seven months ever. She said she is ready to enjoy her retirement now, and she couldn't be more excited. I know that even as strong of a family as we have we couldn't have gotten through this without all of your prayers, thoughts, well-wishes, and shoulders for us to lean on. By the grace of God, from the very beginning things "fell" into place to get her where we are today. Everything from her initial appointments happening the day after getting the CT scan results, to the surgeon being able to remove the entire tumor. She can't wait to see Dr. Brook (the original pulmonary doctor) again so she can look at him and give him a "Haha, look at me know" smirk for telling her what he initially told her. I don't think I ever posted this but when he initially saw her, he told us from what he saw and given her history and her family history, he "could guarantee us 99.9%" it was small-cell cancer and she had about three to six months left at best. Seriously! Boy, look at her now!

She does have some follow up appointments to make sure she is continuing to heal and nothing more develops. She sees the oncologist in October and has another CT scan then. I'm sure we will all be on pins and needles at that time, but trust in God that she will remain cancer-free.

She's for the most part feeling pretty good. The last treatment was on Wednesday (because of the holiday) and she's feeling pretty good. So good, in fact, they're at the boat right now. She really looking forward to playing in the annual City of Pleasant Hill golf tournament. (Thanks, Nici!) She's not 100% yet, but she's well on her way. She knows that each day brings back more strength and energy she has missed over the past seven months. And how about this for a running weight total, her finishing weight at her last treatment was...........102lbs! That's amazing for someone who started this journey at 105lbs, got down to about 95lbs when she came home from the hospital, then gained back as much as she did while on chemo.

Once again, thank you all for your continued prayers, thoughts, well-wishes, and the shoulders you have let us lean on during this time. We are truly blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful people.

Down To The Home Stretch!

Last Tuesday was Mom's last infusion of "The Big Ugly" and she couldn't be more excited. She has three treatments left...forever! They gave her some extra medicine to take for her last treatment, and it did help, she says her nausea isn't as bad as it has been after the previous big treatments. During her last cycle, she had to miss her treatments for weeks two and three because her counts were too low. But they came back up just like always, which is good. If history keeps repeating itself when it comes to her treatments she more than likely just have two treatments left to go. Her weight is holding pretty steady. Dad says she's eating him out of the house.

She's starting to get cabin fever from being in the house so much that they're already planning their next trip to Vegas in November. And, now that it's cooling off, she's also gearing up to hit the golf course!

Thank you all so much for your continued prayers and well wishes. Don't forget, visitors are always welcome at the Beatty house!

Calling All Photos

We are working on a little project for Mom. We are in need of any pictures anyone may have from Mom's Retirement party or any events from the past year. You may email those pictures to me at kimrey4@yahoo.com or any extra copies can be mailed to me, Jodie, or Jason. We can email the addresses to you if you would like to help us that way. Thank you!

Guess What???

Time to update again, I hear! Once again, Mom had to skip the third week of this last cycle because her counts were too low, just like the last time. However, she was able to receive her treatment yesterday. We're pretty sure this will be a week three thing for the next two cycles. We're not really upset about the skip, she kind of looks forward to having a week off of the side effects.

Even better news, SHE IS HALFWAY DONE WITH CHEMO!!!

She has come so far. So much has changed for her since February 19th, 2009. We pray that helping her reflect on all she has overcome since that day will help her get through the next eight weeks. She is so strong and we know that she will be just fine. She is even ready to hit the links once again. She's looking forward to the golf tournament the city puts on every year. We think we have our scramble strategy worked out...I drive and she putts...you all better watch out!

This week is the Cass County Fair and what better place to celebrate her "Halfway Milestone" than to gather together at the Miller Pavilion tomorrow night to help her celebrate being halfway done with chemo! If you're out and about tomorrow night, stop by and say hello and even join us in toasting her!

One Cycle Down, Three More To Go!

Mom's counts were back up and was able to get her treatment Tuesday completing the first cycle of chemo. Woo-hoo! She tolerated her treatment very well, not getting sick at all. She is doing very well staying on top of her nausea meds. She has three cycles to go (12 weeks). Her treatment this coming Tuesday is another "big one" where she gets both chemo drugs.

She's even becoming a Facebook phenom reuniting with people she hasn't talked to in a while. I think she's getting addicted!

We'll update you all on how Tuesday goes!

Third Time's Not A Charm

Well, Mom's chemo started good the first two weeks. She gets it on Tuesdays. The first week when she received both medicines the nausea kicked in Thursday morning and lasted until Friday afternoon. We didn't even wait to find out if the Compazine they gave her for nausea worked or now, we called for a prescription for Zofran. The combination of the two medicines for nausea really worked for week two when she just received the Navelbien. Last week she was just a little nauseated on Thursday but did really good.

Today, Mom went for her third treatment, she was supposed to get the Navelbien today. Unfortunately, her blood counts were too low to let her get it safely. Her white blood cell count (WBC's) are normally supposed to be 5,000-10,000, they will treat her even if they are as low as 2,000. Her WBC today was 1,700. Another component is the absolute neutrophil count (ANC). The ANC is a count of the immature WBC's. This level should normally be greater than 1,000. Today, hers is 200. Unfortunately, they had to hold her treatment for today. We knew this would probably happen. Dr. Stephenson had told us before that usually the third and or fourth weeks of the cycles have to be held due to low counts. It just stinks to really have it happen.

Her counts are low enough to have an effect on her immune system so you might see her around with a bottle of Purell and a container of Clorox wipes in her purse. She's wanting to stay as healthy as possible for Dad's big reunion this weekend. They are going to St. Louis for a reunion with Dad's company he served with in Vietnam. He is really looking forward to this.

Once again, thank you all for your continued thoughts, prayers, and occasional taxi services for Mom. We are a very blessed family to be surrounded by such wonderful people.

16 Weeks and Counting

Tomorrow, Mom gets to begin the wonderful world of chemotherapy!!! Okay, so much for the excitement. This will be the long day as she will be getting both chemo drugs. The Cisplatin is the one that takes 6-7 hours to take as well as getting the Navelbien. She will get the Navelbien every week as her blood counts allow.

She is a little nervous about the entire ordeal, but is remaining is good spirits. She even has her bag of goodies packed in preparation for the long day. She's planning on watching some movies on Jodie's mini DVD player and reading some of her book. I think she is most nervous about the inevitable nausea. Her oncologist has already prescribed her some Compazine to ward off the evil nausea spirits. We'll see.

We'll keep you all posted on how tomorrow goes!

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

Thank you ALL so much for your thoughts and prayers! They were answered yesterday. Mom saw Dr. Seligson for another follow-up appointment and things looked really good. So good, in fact, that her CHEST TUBE IS OUT!!! No more air-leak and no more fat-leak! She is very ready for a steak dinner, but Dr. Seligson advised her to take it slow. She can't wait for that filet at the boat. She said it feels so good!

She met with the oncologist, Dr. Stephenson, on Monday and discussed her treatment plan. Unfortunately, it wasn't as she expected. Originally, she was being told that it would be eight weeks. Somewhere along the line it has doubled. She also wanted to do some traveling before she started to feel bad again. Dr. Stephenson advised her against that. He said that the longer she waits to start treatment, the effectiveness decreases. He said that without treatment, she has a 50/50 chance of recurrence. With chemo, there is a 10-15% increase in her favor, making that a 60-65% chance that it will not come back. She thought about it a lot over the last month and is willing to take those odds.

They are going to use two different chemo drugs during her treatment. The first one is Cisplatin (the Lance Armstrong chemo drug). This one will take the longest to infuse, approximately 6-7 hours one time every four weeks. The second is Navelbine. She will get this one weekly with these infusions lasting for 1-2 hours. Dr. Stephenson informed us really well about these drugs and made her feel very comfortable with his plan for her. She is now taking applications for drivers for chemo days on the days that we are working.

She's really hoping the rain will let up soon. She's ready to get out to the golf course for some putting practice before it gets too hot. =-) Thank you all again for your continued thoughts and prayers. We are so grateful and extremely blessed to be surrounded by such caring wonderful people.

Follow-Up With Dr. Seligson

Mom saw Dr. Seligson today for her first follow-up appointment. He is pleased with her progress and said her lungs sound really good. Today's big test was seeing if she still has an air leak and, unfortunately, she still does. He is impressed with the small amount of drainage she has been having. He decided the chest tube needs to stay in for another week. Also, she gets to add more food to her restricted diet. She's pretty excited about that. Dr. Seligson said that she's earned the right to "cheat" a little. When she goes back next week he said that if the drainage stays minimal and the air leak is gone he will take it out. But, if the air leak is still there, he will pull out the tube a little and re-stitch it in to secure it, as he thinks this will help speed the sealing up. Many prayers are needed for this week that the drainage stays minimal and that the air leak seals up. Mom is SO READY to get the chest tube out. She said it's really hindering her sleeping on her right side!

Just In Case You Didn't Hear....

Many of you already know, but just in case you didn't hear, Mom came home from the hospital on Tuesday. She's doing really good. Just being home makes a world of difference in her recovery. She's loving visitors coming to keep her company. Unfortunately, I've had a cold this week so I've had to stay away. Hopefully, it will disappear soon so I can get back over there and help out more. The diet is going okay. She sees Dr. Seligson on Wednesday, so hopefully the leaks are all sealed up and she can get the chest tube out and eat a regular fatty meal. Keep your fingers crossed!

HAPPY EASTER!!!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. Mom had a pretty good day yesterday. She told us all about her visitors on Saturday. Many thanks go to Pastor Kent and Carla for the bunny ears. Also, apparently the nursing staff started to wonder about the crowd Mom runs with after Bob, Kathy, Norm, and Bev came up to visit....all decked out in their biker gear. She loved it though! As for Easter, Mom thoroughly enjoyed her plain potato, steamed vegetables, and flax seed. Mmm, mmm! She is doing really good with the no-fat diet she is now on. The drainage from the chest tube was only 40ml from 1am until 7pm yesterday. This was a HUGE change. Dr. Seligson was extremely impressed that he took one of the chest tubes out and changed the chamber to a smaller one (the new one only holds about 80ml) because she still has the air-leak. He told Mom that he expects it to seal up in about another week since the fat duct issue is now under control. Soooo, this means if the new chest tube goes well today.....SHE'S COMING HOME TOMORROW!!! What a blessing! As you can expect, she's getting pretty antsy to get out of here.

Sorry For Not Updating Sooner

Sorry, sorry, sorry!!! We just enjoyed Mom's progress so much that we forgot to make time to update the blog.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday went pretty well. Mom met with the oncologist. He basically introduced himself and told her that they would meet after she goes home to discuss her treatment options. Yes, they got the tumor out, but they still have people do some chemotherapy to reduce the recurrence. She's been getting up walking a lot. She takes several walks a day. Unfortunately the chest tube is still in. She still has too much drainage to take it out. We'll get to that in a minute. Her lung is doing sell. The area of collapse is gone and it is completely reinflated. Thursday, Jeremy and I came up. This was his first time seeing her since the day before her surgery. I was a little difficult for them both, but they both benefited from the visit a great deal.

We noticed yesterday that the clear light yellow drainage was more like skin milk in color and clarity. We didn't know if this was normal or not. Also, the drainage started to increase. Today, I was here when Dr. Salamat and Dr. Seligson came to see her. According to them, the skim milk drainage is fats. Okay, how's that? Apparently, there is a duct that runs from the intestines where they absorb fats from what you eat. The duct winds up the body and distributes the fats where they're supposed to go. The portion of the duct that was behind her lung in the area that was removed has a small leak. Dr. Seligson said there are two ways to fix the problem. One way is to do another surgery. He doesn't want to do that because she is doing so good otherwise. She just flat out doesn't want another surgery. The other way, is to restrict her diet limiting the fat she takes in and wait for the leak to seal up. She said, "Oh yummy!" Dr. Seligson is on all weekend, so he said if he didn't see any improvement by late tomorrow he will restrict her diet even further and have her get a PICC line put in and have her put on TPN (IV nutrition). Long story short, she's here for probably another week according to Dr. Seligson.

She's making the best of it though. We're grateful that the tube was still in and caught the problem before it came out and she went home and caused a HUGE problem. We've hooked her up with everything from crosswords to movies. We even figured out that her laptop isn't as old as we thought it was. It actually connected to the guest access here so she now has internet to occupy her time. She is remaining in good spirits given the new development. I forgot to give you all her new room number, it is 3055. It's not as good as her other unit, but it's home until they say otherwise.

Thank you all again for the continued prayers. She is definitely one lucky lady!

Post-Op Day #7-Turned The Corner

Mom had a pretty sleepless night last night, she said. However, she said she feels wonderful today. She said she took several walks around the unit and has been up in the chair most of the day. She added that she hasn't had to take anything for pain! Jodie, Aunt Chris, and I stopped in on her this evening, and I have to say she looks amazing. Her cough, color, appetite, and energy are so much better than they have been, even better is that she's not sleepy anymore. She saw Dr. Seligson today and he said he was pleased with her progress. There is still no official word on when she will get to come home. She still has the chest tube in and in order for her to get it out, she has to have less than 150ml per day of drainage from it. Yesterday she was about 800ml, and from then to today she had about 400ml so we think she's on the right path. She can't wait to get home, especially to see the grandkids and we can't wait for her to get home. It's just not the same without her around!

Post-Op Day #6-On The Right Track

Patsy said she had a pretty good night. She was able to sleep about two hours at a time but getting back to sleep fairly quickly after waking to take more pain medicine. She is doing really good with the Darvocet they have been giving her. The Reglan seems to be helping as well for the nausea. For lunch, she ate half a bowl of soup and a few bites of salad. We have made a date for later this afternoon to take another walk. She wanted to take a nap first, I'm pretty sure yesterday's walk tired her out quite a bit. She even made a dinner request for a cheeseburger kid's meal with a Frosty from Wendy's. Her appetite seems to be getting better (better meaning she actually has a small one) without the oxygen on. Dad is staying tonight, so hopefully she'll have as good of night as she did last night.

Thank you all for keeping her in your prayers. We know she still has a long road to recovery, but given the alternative, I couldn't be happier with her progress.

Post-Op Day #5-Making Strides

Well, I'm a day late posting this, but better late than never. On Saturday, Mom made some incredible progress. Jason stayed Friday night and said she had a pretty good night compared to the nights past. Her oxygen was decreased to 1liter overnight and the respiratory therapist said she her O2 sats were 98-99% so he removed her oxygen all together. She remained off oxygen all day. Later in the afternoon the fog of morphine seemed to finally lift and she decided she wanted to take a walk. Jodie & I helped her down the hall. I'm not good at distances, but I would guess it's about 75yards to the waiting room. She made it there like a champ. She did so good, she tolerated it very well and didn't get dizzy or short of breath like we thought she would. We sat there and rested for a little bit and met her sister Patsy and niece Pam there. Patsy is staying this night. Then she headed back to her room, even speeding up a bit. This is a huge accomplishment for her. She even said that it did feel pretty good to get up and walk around. She ate the most for dinner since she's been here. She had chicken and rice and ate about a fourth of the chicken and a couple tablespoons of rice. We're glad her appetite seems to be starting to coming back.

I was getting a little nervous because her telemetry monitor kept alarming that she was having PVC's (premature ventricular contractions, the ventricles contracting out of turn). Occasionally, they aren't a big deal. It just made me nervous when she would have 10 and even 12 in a minute about every 20-30 minutes. Her nurse didn't seemed alarmed, so I'll trust her on that. I eventually talked to a couple that are much more knowledgeable about this and they said they were normal for what she was doing at the time. They would always happen when she would be sitting up, repositioning, or coughing. This is her body's way of getting use to the new change.

Post-Op Day #4

Well, there is not much to update today. Things are pretty much the same as yesterday. The atelectasis is unchanged (good, it's not worse!), but Mom's appetite also remains unchanged. She is still VERY sleepy. Since the morphine/fentanyl incident, they have changed her to oral pain meds which she is requesting very rarely. It's just frustrating because we can't figure out why she is sleepier now than she was the day after her surgery. Her oxygen levels on her blood gasses continue to be normal and they even took her off of continuous pulse oximetry because she is now on 2 liters of oxygen. Today, when I called the nurse to check on her she ensured me that all the critical things (lungs, heart, incision) we are most concerned about continue to be doing just fine. That, we are very grateful for. Jodie stayed with her last night and earlier today. She said she had a pretty good morning. She did, however, have a little elevation in her white blood cell count (WBC's, the infection fighters) to 17,000. According to the night nurse, it's not "bad", they just want to take every precaution to ensure that she doesn't get infected or pneumonia so they started her on Zosyn, a pretty heavy duty antibiotic.

Tonight, Jason is staying with her. He'll do just fine also. He seems to be doing just as good of job annoying tonight's nurse as I did. I got there after work and she was in Mom's room assessing her and turned to me and said, "Oh, are you the daughter?" What can I say, I made an impression....

Post-Op Day #3-Update

Mom's nurse just told us the results of her latest chest x-ray. It showed a "slight increase in the atelectasis of the right lower lobe", meaning the collapsed area has gotten a little bit bigger. We have yet to know what the lung doctor has in store for her.

She is still very sleepy. She did eat a little bit of her lunch today which she managed to keep down. Jodie is working on dinner with her. Dr. Seligson, the surgeon, decided that her tiny body just can't tolerate Morphine like other people so he had the nurse shut it off and switch her to pain meds by mouth.

As soon as we know anything else we'll post it!

Post-Op Day #3-Minor Setback

Mom had a pretty restless night. She had several bouts of nausea. Yesterday around 2pm they placed the Fentanyl patch. Somewhere between then and about 7pm we noticed that her IV had wet bad so as a result, she wasn't getting the Morphine IV like we had thought. About an hour or two after her IV was replaced she started with the nausea. She received 3 doses of Zofran overnight that seemed to help. Dr. Seligson's nurse practitioner, Jo came in and we had the revelation about the combined effect of the two meds. She decided that the Fentanyl patch that Dr. Salamat ordered was unnecessary since she was having adequate pain relief from the Morphine PCA and was the culprit behind her nausea so she removed it on the spot.

She did do much better with her coughing. They almost sounded normal. She was very pleased with herself and was even bragging about it to Dr. Seligson this morning.

Her O2 sats are fine, running at 95-98% even while up in the chair. Sometime overnight they decreased her oxygen to 3liters. This is an improvement from the 6liters she was on last night. She, however, is extremely tired today, only waking to us nudging her telling her to wake up.

Since then Dr. Salamat came to round on Mom and told us (with her"best bedside manner") that according to this morning's chest x-ray that the lower remaining portion of Mom's right lung has collapsed. Dr. Salamat thinks that this is possibly due to a mucous plug in that portion of the lung. She ordered blood gasses and a repeat chest x-ray. Depending on those results we will know if Mom has to undergo another bronchoscopy to remove the plug in an attempt to help "reinfalte" that area. We will know the results in about an hour. Please pray for her. She needs as much help as she can get to get over this hurdle.

I will update this again once we know more.

Post Op Day #2

So far so good up on the unit. Last night they increased Mom's oxygen to five liters from the two she was on earlier in the day. Her O2 sats have increased to 96-98%. They also added a humidifier to the oxygen since it can be very drying to the inside of the nose and air passages. Her color is so much better today compared to yesterday.

Dad said she had a good night last night. Dad was here when the doctor came to see her this morning. I'm not sure which one it was, but they read her the riot act about coughing and deep breathing. If she doesn't, she will more than likely develop pneumonia. We don't want this at all. Anita, her nurse today, told me that her latest chest x-ray didn't show any pneumonia on it...let's keep it that way.

Her pain seems to be a little better. She was up sitting in a chair today when I got here. Dad said she had been up for about two hours. She was getting tired so we got her back in bed. She gets up and down just fine, all things considered. She got a little cat nap in after lunch which was what she needed. Also, to help with her pain, they started her in a Fentanyl patch, in addition to the Morphine PCA.

That's all we know so far today. We want to thank you all for your continued well-wishes and prayers.

Out of ICU

Mom didn't get much rest last night. They had a busy night in the SICU. I was given another scare when I was in here with her. Her telemetry monitor alarmed and showed the cardiac rhythm ventricular tachycardia...I've never dealt with it on Labor & Delivery, but I know enough about it to know it's not good. I saw several nurses running in the direction of her room. Mom panicked when I asked her how she was feeling. Just then I looked in the crack from the blinds through the window into the next room and saw everyone in there. That was when I realized that the V-Tach was in room 2. If I would have looked closer I would have seen that on the monitor.

This afternoon, Mom got moved out of SICU a day or two ahead of schedule and to a cardio/pulmonary/telemetry floor. Today has been a little rough for her. She is in a lot of pain and the epidural isn't keeping up with it. She got some morphine in her IV during lunch that helped her a great deal. The coughing is still what it was last night. She is going to get sick of us telling her to cough, but it's what she needs. She is so tired right now, the only sleep she got since Saturday night was the 6-1/2 hours she was in surgery.

Right now they are trying to decide what to do for her pain. I think they are leaning in the direction the starting her on a PCA pump and removing the epidural. I think they are wondering if the epidural was working in the first place....Yup, Dr. Ludwikowski just came in and removed her epidural so they can start her on the PCA.

My only concern with her is that her oxygen saturation levels (O2 sats) were 98-99% post-op and into this morning, but around 11:00 this morning they started to decrease gradually to 89-92%. I'm hoping (because this would be the best scenario) that it's because she's hurting and breathing shallow, but we'll see how she see does once her pain is back under control.

Tonight Dad is staying with her and I'm going home. However, I'm leaving him with strict orders to call for anything. He better!

She's Resting

We got to go to Mom's room and visit. She seems to being doing very well. She's wanting to stay awake to entertain Dad and I. We're taking shifts at her bedside encouraging her to go to sleep. She told me that she is scared to go to sleep because she's scared she will wake up coughing and that it will hurt. We keep encouraging her that she needs to cough and the epidural will help with the pain.

Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers. Words cannot express how grateful we are for everything everyone has done for us. We are truly blessed.

Update-Out of Recovery

We just got to see Mom since she was taken to surgery. They let us say hello on the way from the recovery room to the SICU. She looked good, all things considered. She said she thought the epidural was working well......

We just got the crap scared out of us. They just called a "Code Blue, Surgical ICU" I ran down there to see people coming out of her room. Just when the moment of panic set in to try to bust down the door, her ICU nurse came out of her room saying, "Sorry guys, that was an accident." Yes, an accident. They hit the Code Blue button by mistake. Well, they passed the test when it comes to responding to codes here.

Anyways, as I was saying, she said the epidural was working well and she didn't look like she was in too much pain. I'm sure she is still very sedated, but she looks good. We'll get to go in and see her in about an hour.

Update-Mom Is Out Of Surgery

Dr. Seligson just came to talk to us. Mom just got out of surgery about 10 minutes ago. The tumor and right upper lobe were removed. He said it was complicated because on the bronchoscopy he saw the tumor protruding into the mainstem bronchus. This creates a complication because you can't just cut through it like you normally would, you have to cut above and below the tumor and then put the two pieces back together again. Which according to him takes an extra hour. He said that the right upper lobe had not been getting any air for some time and it was rather infected. Like I said, she just got out of surgery so we're still trying to comprehend all of this (it's not like she's in labor where I know what all can be expected). She will be in recovery for about an hour or two then she will move to the surgical ICU (SICU). She is at an extremely high risk for pneumonia and plugging of the airways because the normal phlegm can't move up and out like normal for a couple weeks. In addition, more prayers were answered...it is NON-SMALL CELL, just what we wanted, the lesser of the two evils. We'll update again once we get to see her in the SICU. By the way, Dr. Seligson has completed a 6x bypass surgery and Mom's surgery today and is now going to go sit with her while she wakes up. This man is AMAZING!!!

Update-So Far So Good

Mom is still in surgery. They told us the thoracotomy would take about two to three hours, and then she will be in the recovery room for at least an hour, and then it will be one to two hours to get her settles into her ICU room before we can see her. We are anxiously waiting to hold her hand and tell her how much we lover her. We figure at this point, and as Mary Sue told us, that no news is good news. Mom will remain in the surgical ICU for at least two days. She will most likely be here for at least a week. Thank you Pastor Kent for all your support and encouragement today. With the Lord, you helped make today much more bearable. We'll keep you all posted as soon as we know more!

Update-Prayers Answered!

Mary Sue, the nurse liaison just gave us an update. THE LYMPH NODES ARE CLEAR!!!! They just turned Mom and started the thoracotomy the take the lobe out with the tumor in it. According to Mary Sue, Dr. Seligson was very surprised that the nodes were clear due to the size of the tumor. Thank you all for your prayers! They have been answered! Again, more updates to come

Update

The nurse liaison just gave us an update on Mom. She's been in the OR now for an hour. She didn't have any specific details just that things were proceeding without complication. She didn't know if they started the mediastinoscopy (step 2) yet or not. We figure the longer it takes, the more they're doing, (as in getting it out). I'll keep posting more updates as we know.

It's on...

I know you all have been chomping at the bit for an update. As some of you may know, Mom's surgery got bumped to a later time. She got bumped for a heart patient that was requiring extensive bypass surgery. We pray for strength and a speedy recovery for him/her and the family. Mom got her epidural placed and just got wheeled into the OR. We are in the ICU waiting room awaiting news for a long surgery. No, it's not mean to ask for that, it means that the lymph nodes are clear and they can proceed with the thoracotomy to remove the lobe. Thank you all for you prayers and well-wishes. Today has been extremely difficult and emotional for Mom and us. Please pray for her. She is one heck of a fighter so this cancer will not keep her down!

Great Friends, Great Times!

Here are a few pictures from last night's festivities. Thank you Nici, Stef, Terry, Mark and everyone else for a wonderful evening!

Terry, Mom, Mark

Mom & Terry

The Beatty Bunch-Dad, Mom, Jenny, Jodie, Jason

Cass County Fair Gate Bit, umm, Attendants

Front L to R: Becky, Mom, Kathy
Back L to R: Holly, Cindy, Nici, Bev, Jenny, Lisa, Sharon

Mark & Scott

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of "The Table Dance",

Terry & Mom dancing to Jose Cuervo

And, yes, even Bob & Tim got into the spirit

(it's been 5 years since their first dance)

Norm, Mom, Dad, Steve, Donna

Tomorrow is the big day. We will be updating this as soon as we know anything. She is a strong woman that is one heck of a fighter, so we know she will be just fine. Thank you all again for your continued support, prayers, and well wishes.

Quite the send-off

Mom's last day at work was yesterday. I can't even imagine how that felt for her. This picture was taken at the last City Council meeting. Tonight is her big retirement party. We hope to see you all there!

Retirement Celebration

Mom's long awaited party will take place this Saturday, March 28th at 7pm at the Memorial Building in Pleasant Hill. Please, feel free to attend. She would love to see you all there!

Front Page News

Just in case you didn't see the article in this week's "Pleasant Hill Times", here it is. Jeremy got all excited when he saw the paper because, "Nanny's a celebrity because she's on the front page of the newspaper." I tried to keep it as large as possible so you all can read it, but I wasn't sure how large of a file this would allow. Hope you all can see it!

Picture Day!

Today, we had family pictures taken. The last time this was done Justin was 8-weeks old, Reagan was 2-weeks old, and little Anna wasn't even here yet. Boy, time sure does fly! We are lucky to have a family friend, Christy, that is a photographer. Her work is amazing! Here are some sneek peeks. Thanks Christy!

Game On

Today, Mom met with the cardiothoracic surgeon, Dr. Seligson. This man was AMAZING! He had already reviewed Mom's case prior to our arrival, spoke with other physicians involved (Dr. Brook, the pulmonologist and also the radiologist that read the PET scan), and was ready to give her a few options complete with in depth explanations.

We discussed what she's up against surgically and physically. He explained that due to the size of the tumor it is unclear if lymph nodes are involved. He added that lymph nodes can also light up on PET scan due to some sort of inflammatory process or infection...remember, she did have pneumonia at the beginning of this. He also explained that the three tiny spots on her liver are not a huge concern at this time as he has reviewed their significance on the PET scan with the radiologist.

Dr. Seligson and Mom came to a great plan of attack. First, he will do the bronchoscopy to look for any airway obstruction and possibly take biopsies of the tumor. Second, he will do the mediastinoscopy. This is the procedure where he will make an incision at the notch of her sternum and take a scope and look inside the mediastinum and look at the lymph nodes. From here he will take biopsies of the lymph nodes and the pathologist will be waiting to look at them (all the biopsies taken) in the lab. He told us that we will have results in about 15-30 minutes. From this point, the game can take one of two turns. If the lymph nodes are positive (have cancer), he closes up and she will be in the hospital for about 23hours. Then she will more than likely need chemo and radiation prior to any tumor removal. However, if the lymph nodes are clear (no cancer), he will proceed with a thoracotomy and lobectomy (taking out the lobe with the tumor in it). It gets a little tricky though. Best case, the tumor is contained in the upper lobe and the surrounded blood vessels are not affected and the tumor can be removed without complication. Because he does not know until he is in there how attached the tumor is, there is a chance that it can be aggressively attached to the pulmonary artery and disrupting the flow of blood from the heart to the lung.

We have been so very lucky during this journey with things falling into place that we have every confidence in Dr. Seligson to help Mom on her road to recovery. When Dr. Seligson was taking Mom's history, he was getting an estimate on her lung function and how well she does when going up stairs. Then he asked her how far she thought she could walk on flat ground. Dad and I looked at each other and simultaneously said, "The Las Vegas Strip." Dr. Seligson laughed and is pretty confident she will do fine after surgery with that answer. By the way, she has gained 2.2 pounds! Thanks Heather!

She needs to get a few more test completed before the surgery and attend a prior engagement she has been looking forward to for the last 44 years that she wouldn't miss for the world. Therefore, the BIG DAY to remove George (Yup, she named the tumor!) is Monday, March 30th at 7:30am.

Mission Accomplished!

Last week I made some calls because I wasn't satisfied with the answers we got from Dr. Salamat and my gut told me something more could be done. Today, I finally got a call back from Joyce, the nurse from Dr. Foreman and Dr. Seiglison's office. Mom's appointment got moved from March 24th to March 11th with Dr. Seiglison (who we hear is very good as well). Joyce was VERY apologetic for the experience we had with Dr. Salamat. (That was nice to know). I asked her approximately when she thought Mom would have the surgery, she responded with, "Probably within the next week." WOW! Even though that is what we wanted, the reality is a little scary. We'll keep you all posted.

Lost in translation

Today, Mom got the results of her PET scan. We saw Dr. Salamat, a younger woman with a thick Indian accent. She came in and started giving Mom options without even giving us the results. Long story short there, we were able to get her to slow down and start from the beginning of the story rather than the end as she was doing after she got off the phone with someone she was talking to about her hospital privileges...while still in the room with us. (Insert frustration here) Like I said, these blog entries will include critiquing by the RN daughter!



According to the PET Scan, the mass is rather large and it has spread into the mediastinum, which is what we didn't want to hear. It is surrounding (not in) some of her blood vessels leading into her heart. They were unable to determine from the PET scan if it was in the lymph nodes. That would be confirmed from a biopsy. Dr. Salamat said at this point she is now considered Stage 3 cancer because it has spread from what we could understand.

When Dr. Salamat came in, she instantly started rambling about biopsy options. We had to have her slow down and go into detail about them. The options were the bronchoscopy by the pulmonologist and the mediastinoscopy by a cardiothoracic surgeon. After hearing details about them both, Mom has decided to meet with the cardiothoracic surgeon for the mediastinoscopy. She decided this route after weighing the options. It is a more invasive procedure where she will need general anesthesia (to go to sleep) and will require a day or two in the hospital. Also, she figures that if the bronchoscopy only would be done, the lymph nodes will still need to be biopsied, therefore warranting the other option, so we took the "if you're probably going to do it in the future, then go ahead and do it now" approach. The biopsy will also tell if she has "small-cell" (the ugly we don't want) or "non small-cell" (the better of the two options). Those results would come during the procedure as the pathologist would be looking at the biopsies while the surgery was going on.

The final decision to do the surgery rests in the hands of the cardiothoracic surgeon. She meets with him on March 24th. From today's experience, we have decided to go to Dr. Brook's office and see him from now on, rather than the pulmonary doctor in clinic at Cass that day this way there is more consistency in her care.

We were blessed to have our pastor there for us today. After the appointment Mom, Dad, Pastor Kent, and I had a great lunch and conversation at Applebee's. This seems to be our traditional stop after appointments.

Thank you all again for the well wishes and prayers. We are so grateful.

"Wow, you look great for 90!"

What a day! The beautiful snow was pretty to watch, but a total pain for Jodie & Jason's move. They are getting settled in and Justin is in love with his new room. The snow also made for a nerve-racking drive to Research Medical Center for Mom's PET scan.

Mom got registered with ease and sent to the waiting area. As we're walking to the waiting area we notice that she is "Sandera" in all her forms. This isn't good as it could cause problems for the lung doctor to get the results. We sent Dad back to registration to get the problem corrected. While we were waiting for him, Mom got interviewed by the PET coordinator. He asked the typical questions she's been asked over and over for the past week. He explains the procedure and gives us an estimated time frame for the test. Later, he comes back and takes her to the trailer for her infusion of medication for the scan. But before they walk away he makes a comment we took for witty small-talk. He says, "Wow, you look great for 90 Mrs. Beatty!" Mom and I looked at each other smirking about the off-the-wall comment. About five minutes later he comes back through telling Dad and I that he had to get her paperwork corrected again and he was extremely sorry about his comment. Puzzled, we weren't sure why he was sorry. He added that he wasn't trying to be a wise-guy, but the paperwork states she was born in 1918...making her 90 years old....though, according to him and the nuclear med tech in the trailer, "she does look great for 90, as well as 60!"

She will know the results of this test on Wednesday when she meets with the pulmonologist, Dr. Salamat. We'll keep you all posted!

That's why they call it a "Stress Test"

Today, Mom met with the very quick Dr. Blick. He's the cardiologist Dr. Davis sent her to see to evaluate the pericardial effusion. And quick he was. A doctor that was on time and everything. He was very thorough and to the point.

He feels that the pericardial effusion was more than likely due to the mass and pneumonia, and "not clinically significant". However, he discussed with us that due to her cardiac disease risk factors (smoking, age, and gender) he would like for her to have an echocardiogram (sonogram of her heart) and a Adenosine Stress Test ("Stress Test"). He told us she would need these tests done anyways for any preoperative workup to clear her for any surgeries in the future so it "wouldn't hurt to go ahead and get them out of the way."

Here's the kicker...
The instructions for the stress test include...wait for it...."24-hours prior to the test, the patient is not to smoke or have any nicotine; the patient is not to have and caffeine, including coffee and chocolate." Mom is pretty sure that's why the call it a "stress test", take away her coffee, chocolate, and nicotine for 24-hours she's "going to be pretty darn stressed!" (in not such nice words) She is having those done on, yes, Friday, March 13th.

Tomorrow she goes for the PET Scan. Remember, this is The Cancer Test. We'll be waiting on eggshells for Wednesday's appointment with the lung doctor for the results.

Also tomorrow, Jason, Jodie, & Justin are moving into their new beautiful house. It is just down the street from Mom & Dad and across the street from the community pool. Bring on summer! They are also just a few blocks from us...if there was a road through. Hopefully that will be a reality soon. Jeremy would love to just be able to ride his bike to Aunt Jodie' s and Nanny & Papa's.

Thank you all again for keeping her in your thoughts and prayers. We are truly blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful people.

What a beautiful day!

Look at that form!

What else would she do with a 68 degree day in February? We hit the links for the first time since November when Mom got her new set of clubs for her birthday. We didn't do too bad for not playing for so long...or at least the shots we counted. It was "Unlimited Mulligan Day". I do have to mention that, well, she kicked my butt! I knew I was in trouble when on #1 she outdrove me...by a lot! Thank you all again for your continued well wishes and support. She is definately very lucky to have the support she does.

Thanks, Dad for showing up at picture time!

So here's the scoop

For the past month and a half Mom has had a change in her cough along with some chills and then night sweats. She decided it was time to go to the doctor. She went in to see our regular doctor, Dr. Davis. At first, it was thought she just had bronchitis, but it was found that Mom has lost some weight. She is now a whopping 104 pounds! She says she forgot to wear her heavy shoes. Anyways, it was the loss in weight that prompted Dr. Davis to get a chest x-ray. When Dr. Davis preliminarily looked at the film she saw a small area that looked like pneumonia but the film needed to be read by a Radiologist at Cass Regional Medical Center (Cass). Mom was given antibiotics and began feeling better. Her chills and night sweats started to go away.

On Friday, February 20th, Mom got the call that the Radiologist had read the chest x-ray didn't like what it said so they strongly suggested she get a CT Scan to determine what is there. She had the CT scan done on Monday February 23rd in the morning. What a long few hours until we all started getting anxious and calling the clinic for results. I was at work and called the clinic for Dad and spoke with Dr. Davis' nurse Sheila. She is awesome and really got the ball rolling for the results. Sheila called me back a few minutes later and asked me if I was with Mom. I was not. I told her that I would call them and tell them to come in but I was on my way from work. My typical hour drive somehow became a mere 35 minutes. Thank God for green lights and good rush hour traffic! Mom & Dad decided to go ahead and get the news. I walked in the exam room for the recap.

Dr. Davis laid out the CT scan results for us:

"Right upper lung mass 5cm to 14cm (about the size of a grapefruit). Strongly suggestive of lung cancer." She has a small pericardial effusion that Dr. Davis probably thinks is due to irritation from the pneumonia and the size of the mass. There are also small areas on her liver that were to small to tell if they could be metastatic lesions or nothing at all. They immediately started talking to us about future appointments with specialists and they would do everything in their power to get them as soon as possible.

Words can't express how grateful we are for Dr. Davis and Sheila's help in getting the ball rolling. Those two are going to be a huge support for Mom and our family. They laughed when I said that it was times like this that I hated the RN behind my name, which is what I needed. I went in to the clinic this morning at 9:30 to get a printed copy of the CT report for Mom's new "Big Bad Binder" and they were wonderful, I got the report and her appointments were already scheduled. God is really watching over Mom because there was a cancellation and her appointment with Dr. Brook, the pulmonary doctor was at 10:30 at Cass. Her cardiology appointment is this Friday the 27th at 3:00 to check her heart out due to this pericardial effusion.

So Mom, Patsy, Dottie, and I headed for Harrisonville. There, the CNA had Mom do a Wright Peak Flow (WPF). I told Mom that I didn't think it really meant anything since it wasn't done right (from how I've seen them done). Mom was sitting slouched over with legs crossed and she told her to blow into it once with a whopping reading of 112. I thought you had to be sitting straight up, feet flat on the floor and the WPF blown into 3 separate times....but whatever. (Yes, these blogs will include nursing critique by me, sorry, that's just me!)

She then met with Tonya, a respiratory therapist, for a Pulmonary Function Test (PFT) to check lung capacities and volumes and flow rates...I'll admit it, I think I didn't pay attention during that unit in school. But it didn't look like the results were any different before and after the albuterol treatment on the computer screen.

She then met with Dr. Brook. He came in and did a very thorough physical exam and health history. Then we got down to the nitty-gritty. He popped up the chest x-ray and showed us the area that the Radiologist circled. That little hazy area didn't look anything like the larger white areas on the CT scan. On the CT you could see the mass as clear as day. The mass is too large to remove surgically at this point. He laid it out, "Given your family history of lung cancer and your history, this mass is guilty until proven innocent." He said the next step would to get a PET scan. According to Tonya, this "is the cancer test". This test is similar to a CT scan but the contrast used is radioactive and it attaches to malignant cells showing up as "hot spots". This test will tell if indeed it is the big "C" and if it is just in the lung tissue or if it has spread anywhere else. The PET scan is scheduled for Saturday, February 28th, Jodie & Jason's moving day. She goes back for the results on Wednesday March 4th with Dr. Salamat, Dr. Brook's partner. Again another date that God was watching over her. There was another cancellation that day.

Depending on the results of the PET scan will depend on the next step. If it is localized to the lung, then they will do a bronchoscopy to biopsy the mass to determine the type of cancer and staging.....if it's cancer (let's keep saying "if it's cancer). If it extends outside the lung to the mediastinum (the space between the lungs where lymph nodes are) then they will add a mediastinoscopy where they will make a small incision at the base of her neck and scope down behind her sternum and biopsy the lymph nodes there as well. This sounds a little more invasive to me.

(Her right and left lungs are where the arrows are and they should look alike. They don't, the left arrow is her right lung. That is where the mass is.)

Dr. Brook also told us that due to the "guilty until proven innocent" nature of the mass that it is possible, depending in the type and stage, that reducing the size could be possible for surgical removal later, but be prepared for chemo and radiation.

They also told her that she needs to be nutritionally sound. AKA, she could stand to gain a little weight. We're working on that with her. Wouldn't we all love to have a shake with all three meals?

She is doing amazingly well. She is liking all of the extra time we are spending together as a family with all the kids around. She also went and purchased a new Red Rider BB Gun to go shoot things with Jeremy......Oh by the way, she's retiring! Dad is staying strong for her, I think he is needing a little TLC as well. Jason, Jodie, and I are faring pretty well. I don't know about them, but there are four little words that get me every time-How are you doing?

I'll try to update this as much as possible. Mom was excited about the idea of doing this to keep family and friends up on what's going on. We do have an amazing family. One where word travels FAST, 12 hours and family in the Ozarks and even in Utah are calling to check on "Aunt Sandi". I keep telling Tim I have the most awesome family EVER!

Thank you all for all the prayers and well wishes. We will definitely need them in the weeks ahead. Please, do not hesitate to call or even drop in for a visit. It's an open door policy at the Beatty house...unless they're at the boat!

Mom's journey begins

Mom agreed that this would be the easiest way to keep everyone informed on what's going on. I'll update this with the ins and outs of the past two days later tonight. Right now Mom & I are at City Hall and I'm using Jodie's computer setting this up....yes, on city time.