Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Future plans
Hi Friends and Family--
Hope all is well with everyone.
I don't usually like to send group email... but I know a lot of you are waiting for some news about my mom....and I have not had a chance to call or email most of you in last few weeks, so i am doing impersonal group email!!
We have good news...we are moving in the right direction...no cancer spread outside her liver...she is still candidate for a transplant (we met w/ transplant surgeon --Dr Hart--and o, so many other docs-- in last 2 weeks). Her tumors have shrunk way down, and or been killed off completely. The chemo has worked on tumors from the inside out (due to chemo being injected in from her treatments), so she has a couple tumors that docs described as dead in the center with edges that have some cancer cell viability.
She is now scheduled for surgery ---RF ablation via laparoscopy--on Sept 3rd --where they will stick rods in through skin directly into liver and microwave edge of a couple tumors. Dr Hart will do this. She will be in hospital about 3-4 days then.
Dr Hart, who i love, says this is another step toward a transplant for her...he feels she is on that road still and feels pretty confident she will get there.
So, again, good news...scary stuff on the horizon still of course...no guarantees of anything, but taking it day by day...glad she is with us now, and happy about the most recent news. And she feels good now, but still a bit more tired than "the old" grandma joanne.
take care
Love,
Tracy
Hope all is well with everyone.
I don't usually like to send group email... but I know a lot of you are waiting for some news about my mom....and I have not had a chance to call or email most of you in last few weeks, so i am doing impersonal group email!!
We have good news...we are moving in the right direction...no cancer spread outside her liver...she is still candidate for a transplant (we met w/ transplant surgeon --Dr Hart--and o, so many other docs-- in last 2 weeks). Her tumors have shrunk way down, and or been killed off completely. The chemo has worked on tumors from the inside out (due to chemo being injected in from her treatments), so she has a couple tumors that docs described as dead in the center with edges that have some cancer cell viability.
She is now scheduled for surgery ---RF ablation via laparoscopy--on Sept 3rd --where they will stick rods in through skin directly into liver and microwave edge of a couple tumors. Dr Hart will do this. She will be in hospital about 3-4 days then.
Dr Hart, who i love, says this is another step toward a transplant for her...he feels she is on that road still and feels pretty confident she will get there.
So, again, good news...scary stuff on the horizon still of course...no guarantees of anything, but taking it day by day...glad she is with us now, and happy about the most recent news. And she feels good now, but still a bit more tired than "the old" grandma joanne.
take care
Love,
Tracy
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
great news!
Joanne had a CT scan of chest, bloodwork and MRI all this week (8/1)
So far, docs have told us that the bloodwork and the CT scan look good (with no cancer in chest, lungs, lymph nodes---basically area above her liver).
We will get definitive news about the liver MRI next Tues the 12th when she has more appointments with transplant surgeon and interventional radiology.
So far, docs have told us that the bloodwork and the CT scan look good (with no cancer in chest, lungs, lymph nodes---basically area above her liver).
We will get definitive news about the liver MRI next Tues the 12th when she has more appointments with transplant surgeon and interventional radiology.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Yippee!
Had a good appt. w/ good news. They said based on her last 2 procedures that 1 tumor had been killed off w/ no viability, and the other tumors " took in the chemo well and are still responding" --"burning" was another word she used. They will know more about the tumors...how much they have shrunk or whether they have been killed off over next month or so.
They are not scheduling TACE procedure at the moment---there is nothing to address right at the moment----will wait to see how much damage the last chemo did. They even mentioned that the one tumor he had trouble accessing last time appears to have taken in some chemo drugs as well. She said another TACE is likely in the future, but to just keep recovering in the meantime! (her blood work looked good from last week)
They are scheduling an MRI in a couple weeks, which will give a better picture before we meet w/ transplant surgeon again (aug 12th). A lot of vagueness from docs about transplant, but she did say that the MRI would be important part of this evaluation and they always want to "leave this door open."
We are feeling happy, but almost a little weird about not doing anything at the moment....i think it is hard to get used to some good news as crazy as that is!!
Planning to have a lot of fun in next few weeks!
They are not scheduling TACE procedure at the moment---there is nothing to address right at the moment----will wait to see how much damage the last chemo did. They even mentioned that the one tumor he had trouble accessing last time appears to have taken in some chemo drugs as well. She said another TACE is likely in the future, but to just keep recovering in the meantime! (her blood work looked good from last week)
They are scheduling an MRI in a couple weeks, which will give a better picture before we meet w/ transplant surgeon again (aug 12th). A lot of vagueness from docs about transplant, but she did say that the MRI would be important part of this evaluation and they always want to "leave this door open."
We are feeling happy, but almost a little weird about not doing anything at the moment....i think it is hard to get used to some good news as crazy as that is!!
Planning to have a lot of fun in next few weeks!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
2nd TACE treatment
According to the doctor all went well. She will be able to come home probably Saturday.
He was optimistic, seemed to think the first treatment had good results and hopes for the same this time.
He was optimistic, seemed to think the first treatment had good results and hopes for the same this time.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
The latest news
UPDATE:
Today we had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Rose, interventional radiologist. He went over her latest CT scans and bloodwork.
We found out that she "responded well" to the TACE treatment. They said latest CT scan showed that they got the chemo right into the tumors. They also said that her bloodwork showed that the treatment was well-tolerated by her liver & other organs, and that her liver was functioning pretty well. They said they chemo results would not be totally realized for many more weeks. They did not give us specifics on what actually happened to tumors they treated--if they have actually shrunk or whatever....but everything we heard was positive. He said most patients do not respond as well as she did.
So, today we scheduled another TACE treatment. She will actually be admitted to the the hospital for the treatment on THURS the 22nd and will stay in the hospital for 1 or 2 days....at least 1 night.
On Tuesday, we meet with Dr. Hart, the transplant surgeon. He will give us a "treatment plan" that will be based on collaboration with oncology, radiology, hepatology docs that have seen my mom---to include any or a combination of these options: liver transplant, liver surgery, TACE, RF ablation where they microwave tumors during a surgical procedure (to be done in combination with TACE), or other drugs (oncologist has mentioned Nexavar clinical trials). Even if she does get recommended for a transplant, TACE would likely happen in the waiting period.
Thank you to all for your kind words, support, prayers, babysitting and cooking!
love, Tracy
Today we had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Rose, interventional radiologist. He went over her latest CT scans and bloodwork.
We found out that she "responded well" to the TACE treatment. They said latest CT scan showed that they got the chemo right into the tumors. They also said that her bloodwork showed that the treatment was well-tolerated by her liver & other organs, and that her liver was functioning pretty well. They said they chemo results would not be totally realized for many more weeks. They did not give us specifics on what actually happened to tumors they treated--if they have actually shrunk or whatever....but everything we heard was positive. He said most patients do not respond as well as she did.
So, today we scheduled another TACE treatment. She will actually be admitted to the the hospital for the treatment on THURS the 22nd and will stay in the hospital for 1 or 2 days....at least 1 night.
On Tuesday, we meet with Dr. Hart, the transplant surgeon. He will give us a "treatment plan" that will be based on collaboration with oncology, radiology, hepatology docs that have seen my mom---to include any or a combination of these options: liver transplant, liver surgery, TACE, RF ablation where they microwave tumors during a surgical procedure (to be done in combination with TACE), or other drugs (oncologist has mentioned Nexavar clinical trials). Even if she does get recommended for a transplant, TACE would likely happen in the waiting period.
Thank you to all for your kind words, support, prayers, babysitting and cooking!
love, Tracy
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Doctor Visit
All went well with the visit to the vascular surgeon. Seems the bleeding has definitely stopped.
Tracy is going to investigate seeking a second opinion from the liver cancer center at UCLA.
When I saw Joanne on Monday she was downstairs, surrounded by baby Patrick and girls. She's still in some discomfort and tires easily, but looking good!
Tracy is going to investigate seeking a second opinion from the liver cancer center at UCLA.
When I saw Joanne on Monday she was downstairs, surrounded by baby Patrick and girls. She's still in some discomfort and tires easily, but looking good!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
The upcoming schedule
4/16---Follow-up appt with UCSD vascular surgeon
5/7---CT scan
5/13---TACE procedure with UCSD interventional radiology/oncology
5/7---CT scan
5/13---TACE procedure with UCSD interventional radiology/oncology
Monday, April 14, 2008
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