Meet The Contributors

Mandy ~ I am a stay at home mom who has been on a medical roller coaster ride going from doctor to doctor trying to figure out what is wrong with me. All of the doctors agreed that there is something medically wrong with me, they just don't know what... Basically, just about every time that I go to the doctor, I wind up with a new diagnosis. It is very frustrating. I hope that some of these links will maybe help you or lead you in the right direction.

Ferd ~ I have had the honor and pleasure of practicing Internal Medicine for over 25 years. I am now enjoying sharing my thoughts and experience in the blogosphere in a number of ways. I am grateful to Mandy for including me on her excellent blog, Texas Medical Freak!

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Updates On My Grandmother And My Doctors Report’s

Thursday, my grandmother had an Upper EUS to look at her pancreas. The results were not good. It is stage III Pancreatic Cancer that is inoperable due to the tumor’s attachment to her gall bladder ducts and other organs. This on top of her PNH, other health problems and her age (88 ½). The doctor has discussed some chemotherapy but, this would only prolong her life some, it would not be a cure. Without the chemo the doctor is giving her 2 to 6 months to live. My dad and one of my uncles have told her that it is completely up to her whether to take the chemo or not.

I have dealt with the death of loved ones and friends but, this is really hitting me hard. I lost my mother two years ago after she developed pneumonia during a second battle with breast cancer. This was completely unexpected, she had just finished chemo and the cancer was gone all that was left was to go through radiation. It was a shock and completely hard to deal with. Even two years out, I still have crying bouts, it is getting better but it is still hard. One of my grandfathers had a inoperable brain tumor and chose not to have chemo (only to extend his life). My other grandfather had Parkinson’s so, I knew that we only had so much time with him. It wound up being years longer than most Parkinson’s patients and I am grateful for that. Then a little over 17 years ago a close friend of my committed suicide. His death left me a mess for a long time. I don’t know which is easier to deal with? All that I do know is that I am really hating death these days.

I guess on a lighter note. By the time that I went to my Endocrinologist appointment Friday, my blood pressure was back down to 118/80. But, my A1C that I did about a month ago was way to high and the Endo did not like so many 200+ blood sugar reading on my meter. She bumped up my Metformin from 500mg twice daily to 1000mg twice daily. I told her that the only change in anything (food or medication) was starting on Chantix to quit smoking. She told me that she very, very rarely puts any of her patients on Chantix. It is the only thing that I can think of to cause such a rise in my blood sugar. I cut out sugar about a year and a half ago. I don’t eat sweets, except on rare occasions. Even then I eat very little. When we went to the State Fair this year my husband, my youngest and I split a Belgian waffle and our son had the majority of it. So far…she has not told me that I am diabetic but, I have to call her if my numbers are over 140 for two days in a row. Diabetes is the last thing that I need going on with me. Now all that is left is to wait for the results of my biopsy from two weeks ago.

2 comments:

Ferd said...

That is terrible news about your grandma! : (
It does sound like you have had to deal with a lot of death in your life, and a lot of illness. I'm sure it gets very hard to not have that be all of your life.

I wish you and your grandma a loving experience, no matter what the outcome. And for you, Mandy, I hope that these problems never define who you are, but rather are steps and challenges that shape you into a uniquely sensitive human being. Because of these experiences, you have a lot to share, as you do on your wonderful blog.

Peace!

Mandy said...

Ferd ~ Thank you, it is terrible news. I have dealt with a lot of death and it doesn't seem to get any easier?

I think that the worst part about it is my grandmother has had the PNH her entire life and never once complained. If you asked her how she was feeling she always says just fine or at most a little tired unless she REALLY feels bad. She put off hip surgery (the first time that she broke her hip) just so she could take care of my grandfather when he got to the end of his Parkinson's. She didn't think anyone could take care of him as well as she did.

Everyone in the family is going to take turns going to see her so that everyone has a chance to have one on one visit time. She is going to stay at home and she has a person living there to keep an eye on her and her home health care is now daily.

Thanks for the "snaps" on the blog =)

Peace =^./.^= M

Labels