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".

Monday, February 20, 2012

Jan 6th through Jan 19 - The Beginning 

1/6 - Friday
Mom goes to ER with abdominal pain. They do a CT scan and tell her there 
is a spot on her liver and they want to schedule a Biopsy. They schedule 
the biopsy for the following Tuesday 1/11/12.
 
1/11/12 - Tuesday
Mom & I go to JPS for the biopsy of her liver. She has a hard time awaking
from the anesthesia and a lot of pain. It takes us 4 hours from when we got 
there till we left. Biopsy staff tells her that she needs to get an 
appointment with Oncology. They try calling while she's there, but you
leave a message and they call you back.
 
1/13/12 - Thursday 
Mom has appt with Neurologist, previously scheduled to check up on her 
Myasthenia Gravis, which has been in remission for 20 years. Neurologist 
pulls her ER info from the previous week and mom learns that when the 
ER told her it was a "spot" it was really a tumor. Mom tells the 
Neurologist that she doesn't like her medical issues to be sugar coated, 
to just give it to her straight up. Mom tells the neurologist 
that she's been trying to contact oncology and has left messages but 
hasn't gotten a call back. The Neurologist faxes a referral to Oncology & 
her an appointment with a liver specialist for 1/19. The neurologist tells 
her that her biopsy results should be ready on Monday and that her primary 
doctor will tell her the results.
 
1/16/12 -  Monday
Mom has an appointment with her regular physician that morning. Her dr is 
shocked when mom tells her whats been going on since their last visit. 
Her doctor had to check mom's record twice but finally receives her biopsy
results. Test results classify her cancer and Adenocarcinoma. While mom 
is waiting her turn for blood lab appointment the Neurologist calls to 
make sure that she got her results. 
 
1/18/12 - Wednesday 
Oncology calls to say they've received the paperwork from the Neurologist. 
Mom tells them of the biopsy results. They put her at top of list for appt. 
 
1/19/12 - Thursday 
Mom & I go to the liver specialist appointment. Dr says he won't be too 
involved because this is not true liver cancer. He Does share with us the 
actual pathology report that explains that the size of the tumor is large, 
it's 2"x2.5"x3"
Oncology calls when we are leaving the liver specialists office to set appt 
for 1/25 at 1:30.
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