Mom drove herself to the Hammond-Henry emergency room Friday night - she had been having erratic heartbeat (periodically) throughout the day on Friday and some times her heart felt like it was pounding in her chest... not in a heart-attack way but it concerned her as there was nothing that she could think of that would be causing the symptoms. Long story short, she has developed more blood clots and they are in her right lung.
Dr. Mullin decided to keep her in the hospital until he could talk with her oncologist (Dr. Porubcin). So nurse George said "welcome back to the Hammond-Henry Hilton" as mom has been a frequent visitor in the last couple of years.
Dr. Mullin increased her Lovenox dose to dissolve the clots and would like for her to go back to doing the shot twice a day. Dr. Porubcin decreased her dose in early January back to one shot a day as he thought she could get by with that since she isn't doing a treatment at the moment. Mom does have an appointment with Dr. Porubcin already scheduled for Tuesday (1:00 p.m.) so we'll find out what the numbers are on her latest blood count.
She is doing much better today and is more at ease. Dr. Mullin also prescribed a drug, Atenolol, to slow down her heart a bit. He believes that the blood clots were putting pressure on one of the cavities in the heart and "making it really irritable" for the heart to do its job. The nurses hooked mom up to an EKG on Friday when she arrived into the emergency room, and that came out normal. They didn't see anything that would indicated heart tissue damage.
They are planning on sending mom home tomorrow after Dr. Mullin and Dr. Porubcin connect.
The other part of the conundrum is getting mom back on Lovenox twice a day. She will have to fill out a couple of forms (new insurance company now) and talk to them. To me that seems like the wrong way about it - you shouldn't have to talk to your insurance company first to get the ok to order more prescriptions. There is something really really backwards about having your insurance company dictate what prescriptions you get based on whether or not it will make them money (or cost them more money).
A patient's health needs to be the priority, and that is definitely not how the system works.
Showing posts with label blood clots. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blood clots. Show all posts
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Week 1; round two
Mom got a late start today on chemo. She had a visit scheduled with Dr. Porubcin before hand at 9:30 a.m., however he was running late with his visits so we sat around for quite a bit. Mom made a pan of pumpkin dessert for the nurses and staff - that was well received and even some of the other cancer patients in for their chemo had some as well.
Mom had blood work done last week on the 25th, however I think some information got crossed because they didn't do a CA125 report. Other levels were normal except for her white blood cell count. They had to do another blood count again before they started chemo to check her white count again. If it was too low they weren't going to do the chemo. Luckily the white count was back up so they started the chemo at about 11:30.
Dr. Porubcin still comments on mom's constant coughing but I keep telling him it's been going on for 40 years of my lifetime and that's just the way it is. I can tell he's puzzled by it but I say let's just concentrate on the cancer forget the cough. I was disappointed that there wasn't a CA125 count available but we'll get next week.
Mom asked Dr. P about putting in an inferior vena cava filter (IVC) - a type of filter to prevent the blood clots from going where they shouldn't go. It traps large clot fragments and prevents them from traveling to the heart. It is used in patients with a high risk of Pulmonary Embolisms (PE's) and mom fits that category as her lungs keep developing clots. He agreed and said that she should get in in this week, so mom is going to Hammond Henry on Thursday to have the surgeon there put in the filter. I'm hoping that there aren't any more clots forming, but she has been short of breath quite often... and I'm not sure if it is because of the fluid build up or the blood clots, but if we can get preventative measures in place to keep the clots in check then there's no reason not to do it.
From what the nurses say in the chemo room, the IVC filter is an outpatient process and she should be in and out in an hour or so.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Iowa City bound
We had a lot of good news today at mom's appointment with Dr. Porubcin. First of all, she's up to 102 lbs! It must have been all of the fried chicken last weekend - plus I think her and Aunt Ruth and Aunt Carol have been eating out quite a bit this week as well :)
When Dr. Porubcin walked in I already knew he had good news - he gets so giddy it's hard for him to contain his enthusiasm. Her CA125 level was down to a whopping 4 (considering the fact that it was up over 3000 in April) and he had good results from the CT scan. There were no visible blood clots on her lungs - they all dissolved - and it looked like there weren't as many "implants" as the previous scans indicated. He said there was still some detectable cancer areas but it was significantly reduced. Dr. Porubcin has never seen these kind of results from a chemo treatment before and was very happy that mom took well to the treatments.
The only concern was mom's left arm where a blood clot had formed after her first chemo treatement. Her arm has been quite achy for the last week and she hasn't gotten much relief since the last chemo treatment. So, Dr. Porubcin ordered another doppler scan of that area just to make sure. She went to Hammond Henry this afternoon and had the scan done - and long story short there's NO blood clot there either.
So next week she goes to Iowa City to visit Dr. DeGeest again for a surgery consult. I'm sure she will have to go through the same tests she went through before, and if all indicators are good they will schedule her for surgery.
She will have to stop taking the Lovenox for a couple of days before surgery to reduce the risk of bleeding, but will be able to get right back on it after surgery. Dr. Porubcin would like her to stay on it for awhile, until next April, to reduce the chance of blood clots. She will go see him again about 3 or 4 weeks after surgery.
With this big Dr. visit out of the way, she has a better picture of what will happen in the next month. She's looking forward to having it over with, and I don't blame her. Tomorrow the aunts are taking a Mississippi river cruise on the Celebration Belle, and then Saturday we are going to Kewanee for dinner and a little shopping.
When Dr. Porubcin walked in I already knew he had good news - he gets so giddy it's hard for him to contain his enthusiasm. Her CA125 level was down to a whopping 4 (considering the fact that it was up over 3000 in April) and he had good results from the CT scan. There were no visible blood clots on her lungs - they all dissolved - and it looked like there weren't as many "implants" as the previous scans indicated. He said there was still some detectable cancer areas but it was significantly reduced. Dr. Porubcin has never seen these kind of results from a chemo treatment before and was very happy that mom took well to the treatments.
The only concern was mom's left arm where a blood clot had formed after her first chemo treatement. Her arm has been quite achy for the last week and she hasn't gotten much relief since the last chemo treatment. So, Dr. Porubcin ordered another doppler scan of that area just to make sure. She went to Hammond Henry this afternoon and had the scan done - and long story short there's NO blood clot there either.
So next week she goes to Iowa City to visit Dr. DeGeest again for a surgery consult. I'm sure she will have to go through the same tests she went through before, and if all indicators are good they will schedule her for surgery.
She will have to stop taking the Lovenox for a couple of days before surgery to reduce the risk of bleeding, but will be able to get right back on it after surgery. Dr. Porubcin would like her to stay on it for awhile, until next April, to reduce the chance of blood clots. She will go see him again about 3 or 4 weeks after surgery.
With this big Dr. visit out of the way, she has a better picture of what will happen in the next month. She's looking forward to having it over with, and I don't blame her. Tomorrow the aunts are taking a Mississippi river cruise on the Celebration Belle, and then Saturday we are going to Kewanee for dinner and a little shopping.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Ready for another chemo week
Mom went to a funeral yesterday. The guy who died owned the farm across the road from grandma and grandpas. He was a couple of years younger than mom, apparently an only child. I don’t know if he ever got back to Ransom much. He died from brain cancer. The kicker is that he was diagnosed with cancer right around the time that mom was diagnosed with her cancer. However, his cancer wasn’t responding to chemo treatments or radiation. If he elected to have surgery, they couldn’t remove the entire tumor, just a portion. Different situations entirely, but it brings the disease a little bit closer… almost too close for comfort.
The trip went as well as could be expected, however mom’s hip was achy so she spent most of today just resting. Since she has chemo on Wednesday, she needs to give it a rest otherwise she’s not going to want to sit through her treatment. We hope for more good news on her doctors visit this Tuesday, as this is the last treatment they have her scheduled for at this point. The next step is to make sure the blood clots are under control before surgery. She can’t have surgery in August if those blood clots are still there, however the last CT scan did show that they were dissolving, so the Lovonex is doing it’s work.
Now that she’s made it through the treatments I hope that surgery comes soon. I don’t think I will feel better about her prognosis until her ovaries are out of her body and the surgeon is able to scrape the cancer off of her peritoneal wall. To me, that gives her a better chance of it never coming back again.
The trip went as well as could be expected, however mom’s hip was achy so she spent most of today just resting. Since she has chemo on Wednesday, she needs to give it a rest otherwise she’s not going to want to sit through her treatment. We hope for more good news on her doctors visit this Tuesday, as this is the last treatment they have her scheduled for at this point. The next step is to make sure the blood clots are under control before surgery. She can’t have surgery in August if those blood clots are still there, however the last CT scan did show that they were dissolving, so the Lovonex is doing it’s work.
Now that she’s made it through the treatments I hope that surgery comes soon. I don’t think I will feel better about her prognosis until her ovaries are out of her body and the surgeon is able to scrape the cancer off of her peritoneal wall. To me, that gives her a better chance of it never coming back again.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
More clots
Yesterday mom still had some nausea, as well as aching bones, but she seemed to be feeling a little better.
Today she found out she has another blood clot under her arm in a spot that had been bothering her and had been sore. The hospital in Geneseo was able to find it without a scan, I can’t remember what she called the contraption they used… something with a lot of tubes. So now, she is off the Coumoudin and just going to go with the Lovonex shots on a daily basis to dissolve the clots. It has been very hard to regulate her INR level this last week, so backing off of that and using the Lovonex should bring the clots under control and prevent others from forming.
Today she found out she has another blood clot under her arm in a spot that had been bothering her and had been sore. The hospital in Geneseo was able to find it without a scan, I can’t remember what she called the contraption they used… something with a lot of tubes. So now, she is off the Coumoudin and just going to go with the Lovonex shots on a daily basis to dissolve the clots. It has been very hard to regulate her INR level this last week, so backing off of that and using the Lovonex should bring the clots under control and prevent others from forming.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Another issue: blood clots
Yesterday mom and I got back to Rock Island about 3:30 ish from Iowa City, and then headed back to Geneseo to get some things done, stop at the store, etc.
About 1/2 hour later the University of Iowa calls me and says that I need to take mom to the emergency room right away because on the last CT scan that was done of her whole chest area (on April 1), there were two blood clots on the right lower lobe and she needed to get some treatment right away. Dr. DeGeest was concerned about the clot breaking loose and would go to her heart or cause a stroke. If he would have gone ahead with the surgery it would have been a bad thing.
So I jump in Jeep and drive to Geneseo to find her because of course she's not home..."I've got some things to do" were her words to me before she left my house.
I found her, neighbor Marion had taken her to the emergency room in Geneseo. The doctors gave her a big shot of a clot-dissolving Lovonox and did another CT scan. The scan confirmed that there were two clots on her right lobe.
She was admitted to the hospital (in Geneseo) and will stay the night, maybe tomorrow as well. We have to consult with U of I again tomorrow to see what to do know since she can't have surgery with the clots.
About 1/2 hour later the University of Iowa calls me and says that I need to take mom to the emergency room right away because on the last CT scan that was done of her whole chest area (on April 1), there were two blood clots on the right lower lobe and she needed to get some treatment right away. Dr. DeGeest was concerned about the clot breaking loose and would go to her heart or cause a stroke. If he would have gone ahead with the surgery it would have been a bad thing.
So I jump in Jeep and drive to Geneseo to find her because of course she's not home..."I've got some things to do" were her words to me before she left my house.
I found her, neighbor Marion had taken her to the emergency room in Geneseo. The doctors gave her a big shot of a clot-dissolving Lovonox and did another CT scan. The scan confirmed that there were two clots on her right lobe.
She was admitted to the hospital (in Geneseo) and will stay the night, maybe tomorrow as well. We have to consult with U of I again tomorrow to see what to do know since she can't have surgery with the clots.
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