Introduction

Welcome to my blog about my mom, Loretta, and our journey through learning of her cancer and treatment.

Just a little background. Mom is 61 and hadn't been to a doctor in about 18 years until this past June 2011. The reason for this is due to the surmountable cost of insurance, even when your spouse has insurance it can be cost prohibitive.
So, Mom finally got approved by JPS in June and it was a good thing too, she had Basil cell carcinoma on the bridge of her nose. She underwent surgery to remove the tumor and plastic surgery reconstruction. She also has high blood pressure and Thyroid problems. We thought she was finally getting the attention she was missing and was going to be OK. Boy were we mistaken.
Mom started having some abdominal pain the first of January 2012. After talking with her and the pain getting worse, she finally agreed that she needed to go to the clinic or ER.
The following blog posts chronicle the events since then. Future posts will continue to explain treatment, issues concerning her condition and general comments.
I appreciate you taking the time to learn about what it means to be diagnosed and this type of cancer. Mom has been a trooper so far, she says "I'll beat this".

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Awesome News!

3/11/12 - Sunday
So I'm a little behind schedule posting this info, but here it is.
On Friday we spoke to Dr Satya, a chemo doctor at JPS. He showed us a quick sketch as to where Mom's tumor is and what his plan is. He wants to inject chemo directly into her tumor by accessing it through the femoral artery in her leg. Once he fills the tumor to capacity with chemo (cisplatin and gemzar) he will plug the vein with particles and wait 30 days for a new CT. There may be a chance thy he will have to repeat the treatment a few times, but the goal is to reduce the tumor so that it can be surgically removed. Dr says there is an 80% chance he can shrink it and remove it.
Mom and I were both overjoyed to hear this news as this is the most optimistic anyone has been.
I course this isn't any easy surgery, nor is it going to be easy on Mom. It's quite possible that mom could have severe pain following the surgery and flu like symptoms for 2 weeks.
All risks mom is willing to take to fight this. I'm so proud of my mom. She's a true inspiration to anyone that knows her.
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