Is This Our New Normal?

Everyday I as that question.  "Is this our new normal today?"  This of course refers to my mom's health.  No doubt, she has been through a lot.  More than I think that I could bear.  But mom is extra special and doubly strong.

Recently, mom has been living on her own at her house.  After her stay with us for about 8 weeks due to her daily infusion that we would give to her she was ready to be on her own.  She enjoyed  3 weeks of independence. About two weeks ago,  mom woke up with a massive nose bleed that bled uncontrollably.  She drove herself to her primary doctor who could not stop the bleeding nor the high blood pressure and then sent her to a ear nose and throat specialist.  Again she drove herself.  I was on the other side of the state for work so I called my husband to take off work to at least meet her at the ENT specialist.  The ENT had to insert a inflatable balloon into her right nostril to stop the bleeding.  Mom said that was quite painful.

My husband drove mom home and she went to bed.  In fact, she pretty much stayed in bed for about 3 days.  I went over to her house the next day to take over groceries and she was just tired and wanted to sleep.  I then went back over two days later and mom was still in her same clothes, I found out later that she did not answer the door when her pastor came over.  I don't think she was eating or drinking much either.  That afternoon I took her to the ER.

They( the doctors) could not really determine what caused the nosebleeds or her constant state of lethargy.  They kept her in the hospital for 3 days.  When she came back home with us she slept most of the time.  We did make sure she was eating and drinking, but all she wanted to do was to sleep. My husband and I think mom has been experiencing small tiny seizures in her brain.  We don't know that for sure, but either do the doctors.  But when she does have a seizure, they do make her very, very tired.

We did take her to see her neurosurgeon to determine if there was water on the brain (hydrocephalus) but she did not see any increase in the fluid via mom's latest CT tests.  She recommended a lumbar puncture to measure the pressure in the cerebral spinal fluid.  If it is increased, mom will have a shunt put in to relive the pressure.

The lumbar puncture is scheduled for this Thursday.  Radiation for her spine starts today, and continues for the next two weeks.  Luckily we have been able to schedule most of these appointments on my "days off". 

Yep, we have been busy. So, is this our new normal?  Yes.  Everyday brings new challenges.  We have learned to go with the flow.  I have learned to channel my stress into other areas.  The little things that don't get done around the house don't bother me anymore. If dinner is not ready or I didn't have time to cook, we eat sandwiches..... or eggs.  Some days I just don't have the energy to worry the every day stuff.

That being said, I have been keeping track of my grocery shopping expenses for the month of April.  March groceries and eating out costs were a financial disaster.  I will update our April grocery expenses by the end of the week.  Did we do better for April?  Check back in a couple of days and see.

Now I am off to catch up on my blog reading!  Have a great day!

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The Rollercoaster Ride Never Ends

Here we go again.  It sounds like I am repeating myself, doesn't it? Unfortunately it seems that mom can't catch a break lately.  We went to see her radiation oncologist Thursday.  This was an urgent follow up by her primary oncologist regarding the biopsy on her scalp.   The surgeon (who was not affiliated with MD Anderson)  said the pathology report came back positive for her breast cancer and it mets to her scalp.  He removed the stitched and call her oncologist and gave him the results.

(upcoming images of wound are kinda graphic, just a warning)


this is pic of wound 2 weeks ago 

That was about two weeks ago.

The biopsy site has not healed and the the incision site has become bigger.  It resembles a non healing ulcer (about the size of a quarter) on the top of her head.  The radiation oncologist was GREATLY concerned about this and was livid at the job the surgeon did on her biopsy.

He told us that the non healing wound will not heal because her scalp has had radiation previously AND the mesh from the previous craniotomy in 2011 is exposed.  The mesh is like a foreign body in her and the scalp tissue will not cover it.  Translation:  Big gaping hole in her scalp with INCREASED risk for life threatening brain infection.


This is what would looks like two days ago

The radiation doctor called the team brain surgeon ( did previous craniomoty) and now a plastic surgeon for a consult.  When they are looking at the hole in mom's scalp you can see the shock and anger in their face.  These guys work fast.  Now mom is scheduled for surgery Friday, February 1st.  Brain surgeon is going to remove the mesh and Plastic surgeon is going to use the skin on her scalp to cover the wound.  This upcoming week is pre admittance testing and a repeat CAT scan to get exact measurements and location of mesh in her skull.

Is this not the craziest thing you have ever heard?

Yesterday, I took a half day off work for a "mental health" day.  After all that information on Thursday,  my brain was on information overload.  I was done. Stick a fork in me..

But there is an upside to all this.  Mom has been financially generous to me and my children and I am able to really get my debt numbers down.  More on that very soon.