Our Mom’s Fight Against Colon Cancer

Mom is getting out of the intensive care. She is doing so much better today. They gave her a bath and are moving her into her new room at noon. Her pain is now at a 5 where it had been a 10 the past two days. We are all so happy she is doing so much better so quickly. I will post her new room # as soon as I find out so family can call if she feels up to talking.

Mom unfortunately has come down with C-Diff infection again.  She had that infection when she was in Sacramento and overcame it after a couple days so we are hoping that she will do the same. She is still in an immense amount of pain and would not like any visitors or phone calls at this time. The nurse was increasing her pain meds this morning so hopefully she is having some relief and able to rest and recover. Wish we had better news to report but we will continue to update as we hear more.

Mom made it through another surgery. She is such a fighter. Dr. Heppel said there wasn’t any major area where she was losing blood since the first surgery went so good he didn’t expect to find any. But they cleaned out a lot of the blood that leaked into her stomach and resealed all the area’s from the first operation. They said her blood pressure looked good and are hoping it stays that way. They are going to start her on blood builders again soon. She is in ICU tonight and probably for a few more days. We will write more tomorrow as we hear more.

Mom’s blood count has become extremely low and the doctors are worried she is bleeding internally again. They are doing another surgery to try and find the problem. Unfortunately Dr. Heppel said that with advanced cancer this is one of the risks. The liver is what helps the blood coagulate and since her liver is very diseased it is not functioning properly. We are praying that she will pull through this like she did last time. We will let you know when she is out of surgery.

Mom’s surgery this morning to reverse her colostomy went very well. Dr. Heppel said that everything went very smoothly and he was very pleased with the results. She is in room # 7E 78 @ Mayo Clinic Hospital if anyone would like to call or send flowers. She was in a lot of pain when she woke up but was given some stronger pain meds and was resting this afternoon. She is expected to be in the hospital for 4-5 days.

Sorry it has been so long since I’ve updated the blog. As most of you know I had a baby girl July 29th. Her name is Arianna Kimberly and she was 8.1lbs. So needless to say my life has been a little busy lately.

Mom has been recovering from her colon surgery the past two months. She was feeling well enough to take a trip to Pine Top along with Sarah, Matt, and her grandsons. It was nice for her and dad to get away and enjoy the cooler weather and change of scenery. After leaving Pine Top they made their way to Mexico to go to the Hoxsey Clinic. Mom is now on a new diet along with a tonic and supplements. We are hoping this will keep her cancer from growing. We are all very optimistic about this new treatment.

After Mexico mom and dad made their way to California to see their new grandaughter. It was so nice having mom here for the week. Though it went by way too fast. She was able to see her mom, siblings, and other relatives while she was here, which she really enjoyed.

Last Sunday mom and dad flew back to Arizona on Angel Flight. Mom was able to bring her cat with her which she missed terribly. She had a doctor apt Tuesday with Dr. Heppel who ordered some tests to make sure mom  was doing well enough to undergo another surgery. She had a scan of her colon Wednesday to make sure everything had healed properly from her last surgery and some blood work done. Thankfully everything looked good and Dr. Heppel scheduled her for surgery for next Tuesday August 25th. She is finally going to be able to get rid of the colostomy bag. Mom is elated! She is expected to be in the hospital for 4-5days. We will keep you posted during this next week and let you all know how things are going.

Mom had a follow up dr. apt with one of the doctor’s at the Mayo Clinic yesterday and found out that her blood levels went from 5.3 to 8.  They were pleased that she is making more blood on her own so they decided to hold off on giving her EPO. They will check her again next week to make sure her blood is still increasing. The doctor said she looked really good considering all that she has been through these past few weeks. Mom has an apt with Dr. Heppel on July 17th and he will make sure she is healing well and check her stoma.

Mom was discharged from the Mayo Clinic yesterday afternoon. She is still recovering and in a lot of pain but is glad she is no longer in the hospital. Her long stay increased the possibilities of infection so it was best for her to go home to recover the rest of the way. Mom and dad will be staying with Sarah and Matt for awhile to have the extra help. As if the surgery has not been hard enough on mom now her stoma has herniated and needs to be addressed. Mom is in no condition to have another surgery so we will have to find out what to do about that next week. Mom has an apt with Dr. Hepell on Monday so will post again then.

Mom’s doing a little better eachday.  Last night she was able to have her first real meal in a week. They took out the catheter and heart monitor and the nurses have been getting her up and moving around a lot more. The doctor thinks that she should be able to go home in a few days. She is really looking forward to getting out of the hospital.

Mom was moved this afternoon out of ICU into a bigger room after 7 days in the hospital. The doctor removed her drainage tubes from her incision which of course caused her a lot of pain. Now she should be healing and improving more eachday. The nurses brought mom a walker and insisted on her getting out of bed and walking 3 times a day. After some pushing she got up and was able to walk around with the assistance of the walker. It was her first time out of bed in a week. It was very encouraging to hear that she is making progress. Baby steps…