January 9, 2014

Went in to see the local Oncologist, Dr. Aggarwal, on Wednesday (Jan 8th). This was for a routine visit after our weekly blood draw. She said she would be happy to give us her opinion of a treatment plan IF we agreed to make her our one and only PRIMARY care doctor! The Block Center already agreed to allow us the option to treat locally since the treatment plan they recommended could be administered locally, so we agreed to her terms. She did not have Cathy's recent blood results,  but recommended a combination of Halaven (chemo) and Herceptin. This would begin on Wednesday (Jan 15th) and be preceded by a CT scan of the abdomen and the brain (her type of cancer likes to migrate there) on Monday (13th). While we were at Parkview, we stopped by the Interventional Radiology department and had her catheter checked again as her gauze was beginning to soak thru. They re-superglued it and told us to get some new skin from Walgreens if it continued to seep. (Actually, we just like to stop in so Cathy can get a WARM blanket to cover up with! :}) 

I had the blood results faxed to me and here are the results:

Albumin (protein indicator) still low at 2.1 (was 1.9)

Bilirubin (liver functions) creeping up to 1.26 (no chemo zone starts at 2.0)

ALT & AST (liver indicators) still a little high but much better than what they had been  (79 & 76)

Overall a 'mixed bag' of results with the bilirubin being the main focus at this time.

We still haven't gotten into a 'routine' for Cathy's drainage. We were attempting a drain about every 4 hours, but then didn't drain for about 2 days after she had it 'super-glued'. Since then, I have drained her 3 times in the last 27 hours and taken out 3.5 liters of fluid! I am getting a full bag each time in about 5 minutes (used to be 20 minutes to get .3 liter)--don't know if this is good or bad. I guess it must be good to get that kind of liquid off her abdomen, but not sure if it's bad that it is producing that much?

On a personal note: Cathy enjoyed a visit from her mom, Jan (oldest sister), Mark (wife and 3 kids--youngest bro), and Julie(younger sister and her husband). This was the 2nd visit from her sister Jan, who was visiting from Montana and staying with her mom in Muncie. Cathy really enjoys the company! We could really use your continued prayers for: 1) reduction in leg/feet & abdomen swelling 2) wisdom on treatment choice 3) strength to fight the fight daily (she is going through a tough time emotionally/mentally) As always, thank you for your thoughts and prayers!!

Mike