Mom update

Good afternoon all, just wanted to send an update on a few recent development in the oncologist search. Mom has an appointment on Tuesday Feb 15th with Dr. Makkar, the Hillcrest oncologist that was recommended by Dr. Wu and that has seen mom several times already. She also will be seen on Tuesday Feb 8th by Dr. Krishnamurthy, an oncologist at University Hospitals that was recommended to us by several other physicians. While we are at UH, we will also have a consultation with Dr. Meropol, who is an internationally recognized expert in colon oncology, and who seems to be the top colon oncologist in Cleveland. He was actually suggested by Dr. Saltz, an oncologist we were trying to see at Sloan Kettering in NYC, who told us there's no point in mom coming to NYC if she can be seen by Dr. Meropol. Anyway, so looks like we have a good array of doctors lined up.

On another note, I wanted to mention how amazing the support that mom has received from her students, colleagues, and friends has been. Mom was so incredibly happy about the cards signed by her students (especially the GIANT one), and she studied them very carefully for a long period of time. Yesterday a book came in the mail from mom's student Ben Leb. It is called "Inside of a Dog," and it's about what and how dogs think. Very cute, and a very touching gesture - much appreciated by mom. When she spoke to Ben he told her that her students were all going to try their best to get 5's on the AP exam for mom. She was truly touched by that. Mom really appreciates all of the people concerned about her, especially the people on this list. Thank you all for making mom happy!

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Mom's out of the hospital!

Hi all,

Mom is out of the hospital and doing great at home. When she got home, she immediately started trying to clean, but of course she is not allowed to do any heavy lifting or strenuous work so she has enlisted Wenjun as a helper in her daily routine. She is feeling very comfortable, and is totally off pain medicine. We are very happy to have our mom back at home, and looking forward to getting her completely cured!

The surgical pathology report is back and it indicates that there the cancer was present in the lymph nodes embedded in the blood vessels that surround the colon. So, that means a stage III diagnosis (to use the medical nomenclature it is T3/N2b/M0). We were certainly very disappointed to find out these results, especially after we heard from Dr. Wu that he did not see anything obviously wrong with the lymph nodes (though he emphasized many times that that did not mean there was no cancer spread to the nodes). But also we were thankful that there is no evidence of stage IV disease, or metastasis to any other organs such as the liver or lungs (Dr. Wu looked at the liver from the inside and mom got a chest CT to check her lungs).

So, the next steps are to find the right oncologist to oversee mom's treatment with chemotherapy. Chemo will last for 6 months and will be delivered in 2-day doses every two weeks using a pump mom will wear on her body. The doctors tell us that this chemo is not "so bad", and should not cause terrible bouts of nausea or har loss. So we are thankful for that. The chemo will begin in about two weeks.

We are looking forward to getting mom treated and cancer-free!

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Mom is leaving!

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Good news!

Mom had a CT scan of her lungs done today and it came back with no sign of metastatic cancer, so we're very happy. It did show some atelectasis, meaning she still has some fluid in her lungs from the surgery. But that just means she needs to be coughing and using the incentive spirometer more, and it's expected after surgery. But we're so excited about this added confirmation that her cancer has not spread to any distant organs!

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Chicken

Alla had chicken (solid food!) and grits this afternoon for lunch. She had to wait to eat or drink because she got a CAT scan done.

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Oncologist visit

Hi all,

Just a quick update on Dr. Makkar's visit this morning. He came to talk to mom and Ellen and I harassed him at length about all the questions we had. He is almost certain that he will recommend a course of chemotherapy, which will be FOLFOX - the standard chemo course for colon cancer. Though generally chemo is usually advised for stage III and up, he feels that chemo is advisable in this case regardless of stage given that cancers that cause obstructions are usually more aggressive.

Mom will have a port put in and walk around with a pump that will deliver the medicine over several days. According to the doctor, this chemotherapy is relatively mild in terms of side effects and should not cause extreme nausea or hair loss, which is great. Ellen is also working on lining up bigshot doctors as MSKCC and Columbia to get a second opinion from.

Mom is feeling good today and had her IV port taken out. She just took a shower with Wenjun's help, and is waiting for a cat scan (to check her lungs for any issues). She is not allowed to eat due to the upcoming cat scan, but she is not terribly hungry.

Emailed by Eugene to Google Group

Evening update

Tonight is the first night mom will spend in the hospital on her own. She was very comfortable today - moving around and taking care of herself with hardly any help, so we decided it would be okay to let her rest overnight on her own. Wenjun and I will be at her room bright and early though, and I will spend a part of the the day working from the hospital.

We are looking forward to a big day tomorrow, when mom should be visited by Dr. Vinit Makkar, a staff oncologist at Cleveland Clinic who comes highly recommended by several of our medical contacts. However, this discussion is likely to be only a preliminary one as the pathology report is not expected until Wednesday.

Good night all!

Emailed by Eugene to Google Group

Afternoon update

Mom is doing well and is getting around mostly on her own. Just now she took three laps around the hospital floor with her newly arrived helper - Wenjun! Room service just arrived and brought mom some grits and yogurt... as well as a tuna salad sandwich and mashed potatoes for me :)

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Here's what's on the menu...

Some english muffin, yogurt, applesauce, and cottage cheese...today is the first day that mom actually feels hungry.

Emailed by Ellen to Google Group

Time for soft foods!

The doctor stopped by and said that mom can have soft foods today and have chicken tomorrow. She can potentially go home on Tuesday, which would be amazing. The oncologist will stop by tomorrow but we won't know the pathology until at least Wednesday.

She cannot clean or stretch once she gets home and she cannot drive or really do much for a month. She needs to keep walking around to see if she could cough up some phlegm. She is coughing b/c she had the breathing tube in during surgery and her throat is a bit irritated and her lungs are still in the process of getting stronger.

She is recovering pretty impressively. She even got to yell at a disorderly orderly and told her to get the f**k out of her room. Mom is definitely doing better...

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Update

Mom woke up feeling a bit better today. She has been coughing a bit as part of the after-effect of the anesthesia, so she needs to do her breathing exercises using the blue breathing machine (will send picture). She brushed her teeth and had some tea and is now resting again. So far, she's not hungry, but I'm hoping that she can have some soup today. Nothing else eventful to report.

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Pictures with the flowers and gifts

Thanks everyone!

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Update

I went home and relaxed this morning after being replaced by Ellen and David. The Mikhail stopped by at 3pm and Ellen and David came home. Mom has been feeling good, though still with the help of pain killers. She is getting a bit back to her normal routine after her shower and with her bodily functions getting back to normal :). Ellen, David and I are heading to Trader Joe's to stock up on some groceries and snacks for mom.

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Doing well

Mom just went for two loops around the floor! She is drinking a lot of juice, water, and tea. She did not like the popsicles, because they were too artificial. She has not asked for her nausea medication.

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Update

Mom is doing ok. We just went for a walk up and down the hallway. She asked for her regular pain meds and is going to see how long she can go without the anti-nausea meds. Now she's on the computer checking out the bravo schedule for the housewives reunion. After that she's going to pay some bills online.

Emailed by Ellen to Google Group

So many gifts

Thank you so much everyone for all the gifts. Beautiful flowers from david's family, archana, google, gifts from my mom's students...its really wonderful!

Emailed by Ellen to Google Group