Nothing new, just a quick update

As the title of this post suggests, there isn't anything new to report since my last post. I apologize for my small rant about the urologist last wednesday - it was just a very long day and I used the blog as a way to vent and get my feelings out. UAB is still an amazing hospital, and we really can't complain about one bad day out of two years of great doctors and wonderful hospitality. So anyways... since last wednesday, things have been about the same. I have my good days and bad days, but for the most part I've been relaxing and trying to take it easy so I don't wear myself out. I haven't really increased my pain medicines since my last appointment with the pain doctor. I may take an extra Oxycodone here or there if I feel I need it, but that's about it. I've been having a little more of the bloated, full feeling in my stomach over the past few days, but that comes and goes as well. My blood pressure is still staying normal so that's good!! My next doctor's appointment is next Wednesday, September 7 with my oncologist and it's just a check-up. Unless something comes up before then, we'll let you know what the doctor has to say next wednesday!

Jason has been an absolutely WONDERFUL husband and has really stepped up in helping around the house more. It's been difficult for me to ask for help doing things I used to be able to do so easily without assistance, but he's helped me realize I need him and I'm slowwwwlllly (haha) learning to rely on him more.

On a side note, Auburn football starts this Saturday and we couldn't be more excited!! The first few games are mid-day games so we don't plan on attending them, but we're ready to cheer on our Tigers from the living room couch just as loudly as if we were in the stadium!! War Eagle!!

Long day at UAB...

After all the positive things we had to say about UAB these last few years, today was definitely the exception. Don't get me wrong, we still think UAB is a great hospital and would recommend it to anyone, today was just a different experience than we've dealt with before. I had my appointment this afternoon with the urologist to discuss when/if to change my stint yet since it's been close to 3 months since it was first put in place. After waiting on the doctor for over 2 hours, I was (needless to say) starting to get pretty uncomfortable sitting in their chairs, and the pain was gradually getting worse just from having to sit upright for so long without much support. After waiting those 2, uncomfortable hours, the doctor finally came in to see us and talked to us for a total of maybe 5 minutes, to basically tell us that as of right now, he didn't see the need to change the stint yet, that they can go as long as 6 months before needing to be changed. He said he would talk to my oncologist and when she thought it was time to change it (whether due to urinary related symptoms or abnormal blood work), THEN they would look at scheduling a procedure to replace it. Then, the urologist asked if I would be able to lie back on the exam room table so he could examine my stomach. I told him yes, but I was in a lot of pain so it would be difficult. He still asked if I would lie down so I sat on the table and went to go lie back, but I was in so much pain I couldn't do it by myself. The doctor offered me his hand to assist me, but it was still too painful. I started to tear up and looked at Jason, who immediately rushed up and basically laid me back on the table. Once I was laid down, the doctor started pressing on my abdomen (and NOT lightly I might add), causing even more pain and more tears. And that was about it. The doctor didn't say anything or make any comments after pressing on my stomach, and Jason had to help me back into a sitting position to get off the table (the doctor simply offered his hand). He signed my check out papers and said he would get with my oncologist, and when needed, schedule to replace the stint. And then we were done...



So... although it's somewhat nice to know I don't have to get that changed anytime really soon (I wasn't looking forward to that), today felt like a wasted trip and the rest of the evening I've felt very exhausted and cannot seem to control the pain. I was running a slight fever earlier this evening, but we're keeping an eye on it and hoping it's just from exhaustion and a long day. We'll of course check it again in the morning, but we're hoping if I get a good nights' rest it will subside and I'll feel better in general. We will of course keep you posted if anything arises, but we're praying for a restful night and better day tomorrow!

Quick update, as promised

Nothing new to report, but I promised an update after the weekend so here it is... I increased my Morphine a little bit (as discussed Friday) and that seems to have helped. I don't have to currently take any pain meds in the middle of the night like I was before. As long as I take my pain medicine regularly, that seems to prevent it from escalating and becoming intolerable.

Other than that, nothing else has changed. I am having some swelling in my feet and ankles, primarily my right foot. I'm still taking the diuretic and my blood pressure has been staying normal so I'm not sure why the swelling is occurring, but it's gradually improving.

We will let everyone know what we find out tomorrow after my follow-up with the urologist.

Just a check-up

We went up to Birmingham last night for an early appointment with my oncologist this morning. It was just a follow up to see how my counts and other aspects for my blood work were. My liver and kidney functions were good and my white blood counts were fine, and everything else was at a good level. When I asked her about the ureteral stent they put in a few months ago, she said it does need to be changed every 3 months or so if it appears to be beneficial to me. I have an appointment next Wednesday with the urologist, and he will be the one to make that call, but since it appears to be helping it will more than likely need to be changed in the upcoming weeks. Other than that, she said there won't really be any need for CT scans, unless I just want one for my own reasons. So unless something comes up between now and then, I will follow up with her in 3 weeks on Wednesday, September 7.

I also met with my pain doctor this afternoon, and there is nothing new to report there either. We decided to increase my Morphine just a little at night because I've been waking up at night having to take more Oxycodone and I've had to increase the Oxy slightly during the day as well. We will try the increase in morphine for a few days and see how that works and go from there. Radiation is definitely still an option, but for now we're going to wait because it does have its' risks and don't want to involve them unless needed.

So unless something comes up, we're really just going to play it by ear and try to control the pain as much as possible. I have my good days and my bad days, which is of course expected, but we are just taking it one day at a time! Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers and we will let everyone know how the weekend goes. We love you all!!

No change in Pain Meds for now...

I talked to my pain doctor late Wednesday afternoon, and basically we've decided to stay on the current regiment of pain meds. It seems to help keep the pain much more tolerable and under control. If it becomes less tolerable or doesn't seem to be working anymore, I'll let him know and decide then whether we can alter the meds or if we need to try something else. If it becomes bad enough, I can still look into being admitted to the hospital for pain management assessment, which is more of a last option. So for now, we're just going to wait and see how this goes. I'm scheduled for a check up with my oncologist next Friday, August 19, and then with my urologist Wednesday, August 24, to check and see how the uretal stent seems to be doing. I'll give an update first part of next week about the pain, unless something comes up. Thanks again for all your prayers!!

Pain Update

My doctor from the pain clinic called me Monday to see how my weekend went painwise. I had increased my Morphine pills as instructed (2 at bedtime, then once in the morning and once in the afternoon) and took the Oxycodone as needed for breakthrough pain. Increasing the pain meds did seem to help some over the weekend. The pain never went away, but it did seem somewhat more tolerable. After telling him all of this, he suggested increasing the Morphine once again - 2 at bedtime, 2 in the morning, and 2 in the afternoon, essentially tripling the dose. If needed, I could still take Oxy for breakthrough pain if needed. We decided to try this for a few days and see how that helped and he would check in with me again Wednesday. He said this would be better than getting admitted for pain management - that's still an option, but if we can control it enough with the pills, that's a much easier option. I did increase my pills yesterday and today and it does seem to help, although still doesnt take away the pain completely, but I really dont know that anything will. Luckily, there is no risk of metabolising the meds - this dose won't effect my liver or anything like the Lortab had a risk of.

Other than that, not much new to report. The pain doctor will check in with me tomorrow and if anything changes, I will report the latest! I know a lot of you have been diligently praying for us and we appreciate that more than we can say. We will continue to keep you updated!

Newest Update

After a long day at UAB today, unfortunately we don’t have much good news to report. We met with Carrie’s endocrinologist first thing this morning and he didn’t have too much to say. Carrie’s blood pressure seems to have finally stabilized and has been good for several weeks now. It was actually pretty low today (91/64), which is VERY low for her. But since it’s stabilized, the endocrinologist said to stop taking one of the 4 BP meds Carrie has been on to see if it still stays controlled. He also said to increase her Prednisone (steroid) to see if that gives her more energy. That was about the extent of the “good news”…

Carrie also had her CT scan this morning and met with her oncologist a few hours later for the results. And the scans show that the treatment is not working. The mass on her left adrenal gland has increased from about 4 cms to over 11 cms since the beginning of June. Combining that with the masses on the right side of her abdomen, they’re basically overcrowding her stomach/abdomen area causing her so much pain. The treatment isn’t working and her doctor actually feels like treatment is causing most of her problems, like fatigue, dizziness, and lack of energy. (Carrie was up to 11 Mitotane per day, which is a VERY high dose). Unfortunately, we’ve run out of options and her doctors want to concentrate more on making Carrie as comfortable as possible and basically giving her the best quality of life they can and taking her off treatment will hopefully do that. Her oncologist called the surgeon that did her surgery 2 years ago to ask his opinion, but after looking at her scans, he said he would absolutely not recommend surgery because she would more than likely bleed out on the OR table. Based on where the masses are and the blood vessels surrounding them, surgery is way too risky and Carrie more than likely would not survive surgery. Radiation is an option to help maintain her pain level-her doctor called the radiologist and is waiting to hear back from him. For now, we are talking about possibly admitting Carrie to the pain management unit of the hospital at UAB for 24-48 hours and basically try different pain regiments to see which one works the best. For the weekend, they told Carrie she can increase both her Morphine and Oxycodone as much as she needs, and he would check in with her Monday and see how she was doing, and if need be, put her on the waiting list for admission to the hospital.

This was obviously not the news we were hoping for today, but we’ll take things day by day for now until we figure everything out. We appreciate all of your continued thoughts and prayers and we especially need them now. The Lord has blessed us beyond belief up until now and we have faith that He will continue to guide us through this. We will keep you updated and let you know how Carrie’s feeling early next week.