A New CT Scan

I had another CT scan performed a few days ago because of vomiting and severe pain near the embolization site. Great news! The left lobe of the liver which was not embolized is showing tumor death also. This means that the new regime of I.V. chemotherapy is working for me. Although the doctor said this chemo only has a twenty percent chance of being effective, I prayed and prayed that this would be my miracle drug. I will see my doctor next Monday and ask him if maybe I can get away without embolizing the left lobe. That procedure has been so painful and so difficult to get over, I would like to avoid the next one.

More Good News

I saw my doctor today and my blood counts have improved so much I started a week of chemo today. The good news is that the embolization is working better than anyone could have hoped. The tumors are dying rapidly and there are many tumors effected. The doctor can't say if it is the embolization alone or the combination of that and the I.V. chemo. Regardless, he doesn't want to change anything and he wants me to have the embolization on the left lobe of the liver in about two weeks. If everything continues to improve, I may be able to get that transplant after all. Thanks for all your prayers.
Love,
Darlene

The Doctors Visit that Became a Hospital Stay

I'm so happy to be home. I went for a follow up visit Monday and the doctor suggested i stay overnight in the hospital. I had a CT scan done to rule out that the embolization had caused abscesses in the liver. It had not and it did show that the tumors are dying as we had hoped. Also while in the hospital I was given fluids, I.V. antibiotics and two pints of blood. Evidently I was severely anemic. All the blood cultures they took are still negative so hopefully I'll start feeling better soon. The other good news is that my liver function tests are much better since the embolization. This little procedure is much harder to recover from than I had expected. Lets pray that it is worth the trouble.

Recovering from Embolization

Wow, how can six plastic beads hurt so much? Actually the doctors said the embolization went very well. He was able to place them throughout the liver so several of the tumors can be effected at once. I had it done Thursday, left the hospital Friday but immediately developed a fever. Kevin took me back to the doctor yesterday to get I.V. fluids and antibiotics and they took cultures to see if there is another way to knock out the infection. I feel stronger every day but I can tell this one will be a slow process. I still have plans to go back to work tomorrow because laying around certainly isn't making me stronger. No chemo this week thank goodness, the doctor wants to wait a week or two. I don't have anything else planned for awhile so maybe this will do the trick for a while. Thanks again for the prayers, flowers, food,calls, cards etc. etc.