Postive thoughts needed for my Mom
 

My mom has been getting chemo for uterine cancer. Tuesday was supposed to be her last treatment but they didn't do it as they thought she was having a drug interaction. They took her off the drugs but the symptoms wern't improving.

This morning my sister took her to the ER as her docs thought perhaps she'd had a mild stroke. Unfortunatly the catscan showed a brain tumor not stroke. So my sisters driving her now to Reno for more tests etc.

On the upside if they need to do surgery they won't have to shave her head since she's already lost all her hair from the chemo (our family tends to have a darker sense of humor in stressful situations).

I'm home running air traffic control. Calling all her friends, relatives and they can call me for updates so my sister can just call me and not a zillion other peeps.

It'll take them another hour or so to get to the hospital in Reno then goodness knows how long to run more tests etc.

Hang in there, katiesue's mom!
Sending the good vibes your way.
:)

Wow, love and healing vibes to your mom and you and your whole family.

wow. best thoughts and prayers for your mom and yourselves. really sorry to hear this. :(

Good vibes for Katie's Mom (and some for you, too, Katie)

{{{{good vibes}}}}

Please give my love to your mom, and to your family too. If you need to talk, I'm here. *hugs*

You've got our emotional support. Anything you need... just ask.

With your current avatar, pretty scary! ;)

Sometimes humor is the best way to deal with things.

I'm sorry to hear about your mom, but I'm glad it sounds like there's a lot of family there to help. Happy thoughts your way.

All my hopes and prayers and vibes of wellness.

As I alluded to on twitter, a good friend of mine had (has) brain cancer and she's come through it ok. For what that's worth.

She had most of the tumor removed via surgery, and was on chemo for many months. It took about a year of her life to recover, but the point is SHE BEAT IT. And so can your wonderful MOM!!

Wishing the best for your mom!

Very sorry to hear about this. I hope things take a turn for the better.

Hang in there Katiesue. Here's wishing the best for your Mom, you,and your family.

{{{HUGS}}} to you and your mon!

Positive thoughts for your Mom.

You got it dude[tte].

<hugs> Healing mojo and vibes coming your way.

Positive vibes and all other goodness are on there way

Prayers going up, Katiesue.

Big Bear Hugs to you and the family from the LashPair ! :)

Prayers flying from here Katie!

Big hugs katiesue, and lots of healing prayers for your mom!!! Just remember to breathe and hang in there. We're all rooting for you.

Hugs and happy thoughts from us here as well.

Prayers from NY for you, your mom and your family, katiesue.

All my love and healing energy. And please let us know if there is anything we can do.

Thanks everyone. She's at the hostpial now and checking in so we'll see how things go from there. Unfortunately my Dad died of a brain tumor in 1990 so of course makes us a little more worried. But there have been amazing things happening since then and they can do so much more now.

I'll keep you all posted.

The positive thoughts are on their way.

My prayers go out.

This community never ceases to amaze me. I'll add my heartfelt wishes to theirs and send lots of love your way :)

You, your mom, and your entire family are in our prayers.

Let us know if you need anything else.

Katiesue, you know if there's anything at all the Wolfpack can do, just ask!\

Hugs to you, Maddy, Mom and anyone else that might need one!

Best wishes for a speedy recovery, Katie.

Katiesue~ a big giant hug to you first off and then all of the positive vibes I can send are out your way, for you and your family.

Best thoughts!!!

I'm thinking of you and your family *hugs*

...and all our love and support for you, your mum and your family from Australia.

Love and hugs,

The Stoat XXX.

Positive vibes on their way, along with a big, big hug for you, Katiesue.

Hugs to you and sending good thoughts your way.

---------> ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

(that's an artist rendition of the good thoughts heading your way. ;) )

Haha, Betty... get out of my head!!!

I'll add mine to Betty's wave of good thoughts, and will keep your mom in mine.

Sending out only positive thoughts ...

I'm sending positive thoughts your way. Take care.

How's she doing today, Katie?

Here's the latest. Golf ball size tumor on her cerribellum (sp??). They just took her to surgery a few mins ago then an emergency came in so they're looking for another room. The surgery will be 4-5 hours possibly longer depending on how hard it is to get out. Then she'll be in ICU for 24-72 hrs. Because of where the tumor is it effects balance and coordination. It'll be at least a 6 month recovery for that. Where the tumor is there is very little chance of having seisures.

So now we wait - again.

Thinking of you...hang in there. Waiting is always the hardest!

Prayers continuing Katie!

Thank you for keeping us updated, KS. I'm so sorry. I will keep thinking of all of you. And please, please let us know if we can do anything. Do you guys need food, or just someone to sit with you? A hug? Anything?

Hang in there, katiesue.

Hang in there Katie! Same for Maddy!

Sending prayers for your Mom and you and your family.

Further update - she's out of surgery. They think they got everything but it was cancerous and it is related to her other cancer that she's been being treated for. They're really worried about blood clots and are monitoring her for that. She'll be in ICU shortly. They'll do a CT and MRI at like 4 AM to monitor the clots.

Thanks again everyone for being so wonderful. Now we wait - again.

I'll be thinking about you and your Mom. Take care.

Hugs KatieSue.

Best wishes in a trying time.

Dearest KatieSue,

Still watching and waiting for good news down in Oz...

Love and hugs,

The Stoat XXX.

Good thoughts from Wisconsin. Take care of yourself.

A regular room has finally opened up so she's not got a room on the Oncology floor. They waitied all day yesterday to tranfer her out of ICU but there wern't any rooms avaliable to put her in.

They haven't been able to speak with the doctors yet, they seem to always be there when visitors aren't allowed in ICU. Hopefull we can get them to at least call us today as we have no idea how long she may be in etc.

Thanks again for all your lovely thoughts and well wishes.

I'm just getting caught up on all of the details. I amsending good thought to you and your family. I hope you can get to speak to the doctor soon.

Sending positive thoughts your way from the both of us.

Update - Mom has been in rehab all week and doing really well. Her tentative release date was Oct 2. But....

She's had spinal fluid leaking. So she's currently back in ICU and they're putting a shunt in to drain it. We've only been able to talk to the nurses so we don't really know what this means. If it's a normal thing or something not good. Anyway they're putting it in tonight and they said she'd probably be there a couple of days.

My sister is headed there now, thank goodness for the hotel inside the hospital, and should be able to get more info in the morning.

If she's there longer than the weekend I'll be heading up on Sunday night or Monday. For some reason this one has just had setback after setback. Hopefully this isn't a huge one.

Ack. I hope it is not something too serious.

Sending more good thoughts for your mom, katiesue.

Hopefully just a hiccup. All my continued hopes and prayers.

Sending good/healing thoughts your mom's way.

Update - they've got the shunt in and it is draining. She has to lay flat on her back except to eat. This is going to set her rehab back. She's also got herpes lesions (kinda like shingles) so she's now in isolation. No idea how long but at least 2-4 days so I'm headed up either Sunday night or Monday AM.

Thanks for the update, KS... lesions like that (had shingles a few years back) hurt like all heck, and I can't imagine that on top of everything else she's been going through.

I'll be keeping her in my thoughts today.

I am so sorry about the setback, KS. Travel safely. It is easy to let your mind wander during times like this, so please be careful.

BE -- shingles, ouch.

Thanks for the update, I'm keeping all of you in prayer Katiesue! Are you doing to do the 5 to the 80 then up? Drive safe!

Sending the good thoughts your mom's way.
Hang in there, katiesue.

Hopefully you are not planning a trip up north.....???

The 15 to 395 is like 100 miles shorter. Plus there's actually something to see. 5 is so mind numbingly boring.

Thanks for all the kind wishes. She's still in isolation in ICU and of course, as per usual the last few weeks, no real answers on to when that might change. So hopefully I can weasle some info while I'm up there.

That's a much better route for sure! More places to stop for a quick stretch and rehydrate. Drive safe and know you are all in our prayers.

Drive safe.

More in the apparently neverending saga of Mrs. McQueen
 

It just seems neverending up here.

My Mom had surgery this afternoon to try and stop the spinal fluid leaks that shes been having around her suitures from her original surgery. Because of all the chemo her system was really compromised to start with so she's not healing well at all.

The Doctor first tried to just reinforce the original suitures but every time he fixed one spot a leak would sprout in another. So then he did a graft from her skull lining to try and reinforce it but that wasn't holding either. He finally put something he likened to super glue on it. He also put in a new lumbar puncture with a larger cathter to try and drain some of the fluid from the spine so it's not putting so much pressure on the head causing it to leak. We're hoping this all works and it holds. The Doctor is hopeful but not horribly optomistic.

If it continues to leak he will have to go in again. There are a couple of options at that point and he may do either or both of them. He's also quite concerned that she's starting to loose her fighting spirit.

So now we're waiting - again.

And for extra added excitement the check engine light in my car went on yesterday about 4 miles out of town so I turned around and came back and got my Mom's car. But the only dealership that can say what the light means is in Reno. So driving it back there tomorrow to have them check it out - wish me luck.

And my already slighly bonkers Sister has chosen now to go completely wonky so yahoo.

On the upside there seems to be massive family drama and infighting in all the various waiting rooms which keeps me slightly entertained. I think every family is a little wonky.

More in the apparently neverending saga of Mrs. McQueen
 

It just seems neverending up here.

My Mom had surgery this afternoon to try and stop the spinal fluid leaks that shes been having around her suitures from her original surgery. Because of all the chemo her system was really compromised to start with so she's not healing well at all.

The Doctor first tried to just reinforce the original suitures but every time he fixed one spot a leak would sprout in another. So then he did a graft from her skull lining to try and reinforce it but that wasn't holding either. He finally put something he likened to super glue on it. He also put in a new lumbar puncture with a larger cathter to try and drain some of the fluid from the spine so it's not putting so much pressure on the head causing it to leak. We're hoping this all works and it holds. The Doctor is hopeful but not horribly optomistic.

If it continues to leak he will have to go in again. There are a couple of options at that point and he may do either or both of them. He's also quite concerned that she's starting to loose her fighting spirit.

So now we're waiting - again.

And for extra added excitement the check engine light in my car went on yesterday about 4 miles out of town so I turned around and came back and got my Mom's car. But the only dealership that can say what the light means is in Reno. So driving it back there tomorrow to have them check it out - wish me luck.

And my already slighly bonkers Sister has chosen now to go completely wonky so yahoo.

On the upside there seems to be massive family drama and infighting in all the various waiting rooms which keeps me slightly entertained. I think every family is a little wonky. And the stress of ICU's and hospitals doesn't always bring out the best.

Oh Katiesue, my prayers are still flowing for you and your family.

I could always come up and push it!:evil:

Hugs for katiesue.
:)

oh, katiesue, giant messy hug.

I'll start the bail collection fund. Maybe the Sheriff is cute ;)

I'm sorry to hear the news isn't incredibly good. I just hope the "super glue" holds and that she has a chance to heal a bit and get her fighting spirit back. My thoughts are with you.

Oh, and crazy family stuff builds character - or makes you drink more. ;)

Big Bear Hugs to Katiesue from the Lashpair... can't wait till we can hug you in person again.

Major hugs coming from New Orleans.

One of my Great Aunts had brain surgery and had a comment to her brothers (all in their 70s or 80s at the time) that your first post's humor reminded me of. I'm putting it in a spoiler in case you're not in the mood for this type of thing.

Continued good wishes for a positive outcome.

Oh, I'm sending my good thoughts and positive energy for her recovery (and your sanity - man, you're amazing to be handling all of this so.)

I spoke to Katie this morning and her car did make it to Reno. Phew! She said she drove 60 the whole way and that it nearly killed her. :D As we spoke, her aunt was picking her up from the dealership and they were off to the hospital.

Initial word from her aunt was that the new drain wasn't working, so keep them in your prayers today. :(

I'm so sorry to hear that the new drain isn't working. Your mom continues to be in my thoughts (as do you).

Glad to hear her car made it ok, I can't imagine doing 60 on the drive from Susanville to Reno...it would be painful at the least.

More prayers for her mom and all who love her.

Another day and more hope is being generated on this end.

oh my- just catching up

I am so sorry to hear your family is going through this- we send our well wishes!

The good news is the drain has started working. As long as it keeps working and there are no more leaks we are good. The previous drains did work for a while then quit so we are keeping an eye on it.

The sucky news is my cataletic converter is toast. $1,100 to fix. It is supposed to be safe to drive as is so I will deal with that later.

And my sister is on her way here for the weekend. Good times....er not so much.

Sucks on the CCvertr and the bad sister juju.

Take care, drive safe and hold tight, we're out here pulling for you and sending good vibes!

Another update on the Saga of Mrs. McQueen
 

So my Mother just can't do anything the easy way, ever.

It's seemingly never ending. She was doing great. They had put in the orders to move her to a regular room last night. No rooms were open so she was still in ICU this Morning.

Her head started leaking again around one this afternoon. They are going to do more surgery tomorrow to try and stop it. Not sure what time yet we're trying to find that out. Also do not know exactly what they are going to do, they gave us two possibilities after the other surgery Thursday. Hopefully we can find all this out in the morning.

So it looks like I will be here until the weekend. I've only driven 1700 miles so far this trip. Thank god for the ipod.

Thank you all for your kindness and support. It has been very much appreciated.

Katie

(and I haven't killed my sister yet. Plus there was a totally hot fire fighter at Safeway who I think I knew once, and no ring, so that was the upside for my day)

Hang in there, Ms. Katiesue. You're one strong person, I tell you what.
:)

And you deserve a little snogging session with a hot fire fighter.

Yes, snogging is a great stress reliever - as is laughter. I have been referring to what's been going on here as "Katie's Mom and her Brain Drain Problem".

When I get home I will post my photo from the local paper when I participated in the "Brain Drain" at my school in, I think, 7th grade. :)

No snogging yet. Didn't say hi as I can't quite place where I know him from. I am fairly certain I've never seen him naked though.:evil:

He's Not even a run up to Inspiration Point memory KS? ...the hub and I got busted up there in our early dating days...

Seriously tho, you and your mom are still in our thoughts and prayers. That run between home and Reno gets old quick...BTDT more times than I care to remember.

Well, not in reality at least

Hang in there lady. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

I was more of a Top of the World or Viewland kinda gal. But thank goodness for online yearbooks as I now have a name. Outta my league.

Soooooo......They decided to not do surgery yesterday AM as the leak stopped. She slept most of the day but as soon as they had her up for dinner, more leakage. Now they are trying to decide the best course of action. Her platelette count is very low and she hasn't hardly healed from the original brain surgery 4 weeks ago. That is what is actually causing all these problems.

The two choices they have to try and stop the leaks are very invasive and they don't want to attempt either of them unless they feel they have no other choice. The Doc hasn't been by yet this morning so hopefully we will know more later today.

More hugs from the Wolfpack!

Ok - once again it's surgery. And the Doc swears he's doing it this time no matter what. Tomorrow at 11:30 AM. They will do both a graft from her thigh onto her head and the ventricular shunt (sp??). So we will see what tomorrow.

More prayers from here KatieSue!

Here's to hoping this is the last update I post from Susanville (not that I don't love it here and it is homecoming and all but I'd like to see Madz before she graduates from High School.)

So they did surgery on Mom this morning. They did two procedures. They took a graft from her thigh and put it on the back of her head to try and stop the leaking. They also put in a ventricular (sp?) shunt to drain out the excess spinal fluid so the graft can heal.

She will have to keep lying down, again, for about 4 days draining. Then they will clamp off the shunt and see if she gets any more leaks. NA is right - no more brain drain.

So once more, we wait.

I'm hoping to drive home tomorrow, if they can get my car fixed. My Aunt Liz is going to stay up with her for the next week. Hopefully we'll know more by the end of next week.

And maybe it will stop snowing so I won't have to put on chains which is just a total pain in the ass.

Glad to hear she made it thru the surgery ok KS...can you do the back route to avoid the snow? I know the 36 or 44 to the 5 sucks but it's better than chaining up.

I'm glad to hear the surgery went well. Your mom continues to be in my thoughts.

Update
 

Guess I haven't updated for a while. Mom passed away last night. (finally). We made the decision last Friday to stop all treatment. She had gotten a fungus in her IV Port that spread into her bloodstream. Because of all of her other conditions it wasn't possible for them to do any surgery to remove the port. They could treat the fungus but without being able to remove the cause of it, it wasn't going to get anywhere.

So they originally thought 24-48 hrs so we all rushed up, and waited, and waited and waited. She slept 99% of the time and wouldn't wake to eat or drink anything.

One of my best friends, Janet, who I've know since we were 4 came up to Susanville to help out. Since my Sister and Aunt refused to leave the hospital in Reno I stayed at the house in Susanville and worked on some of the things there like winterizing the yard and trashing all the expired cans of food. Stuff like that. And we decided to try and eat our way through all the resturants in town, we're almost done.

This last Saturday (so 8 days with no food and water) they thought it might be another week. So Janet and I went home.

Mom passed away around 11:30 last night. Services will probably be on Saturday so I'm guessing I'll go up on Thursday. The less time spent in my crazy sisters presence right now the better.

Thank you all so much for being so supportive through all of this. It really has meant the world to me to have such great friends!

My condolences, katiesue.
:(

Katie, I'm both sad and relieved to hear this news. I know how difficult it is to know what is going to happen but be stuck in a state of limbo just waiting. I'm glad she is a peace. Hugs to you and your family.

I'm sorry for your loss, katiesue. Thanks for giving us the update.

Katiesue~ Aw, hon, my deepest most sincere condolences. Along with a big giant hug to help give you strength to tolerate your sister.

~J

I'm so sorry to hear the news. While I'm sure there's a great relief, it doesn't make the loss any easier. Virtual hugs from us...

If there's anything we can do IRL, don't hesitate to ask.

My condolences on your loss. I hope that you are able to get through the aftermath as easily as possible.

I'm sorry.

Very sorry to hear about your mom.

(((KS))) you and the rest of the family have my deepest sympathies and will be in my prayers.

So sorry KatieSue.

Katie, so sorry to hear that she has passed away. But glad that the ordeal is over for her and you and your family. If I can do anything for you from here, just ask.

Oh, Katie. My love and sympathy to you and to your family. I can only imagine what you're going through right now, so I don't know how best to help. But if there's anything we can do - anything at all - please let me know.

I'm so sorry :(
If there is anything I can do (including bail money collection ;) please let me know.

/hugs

I'm so sorry as well, Katie. It's been such a long, hard fight and it must feel really strange and very sad for it to be over. Take care of yourself, and get away from crazy relatives as soon as you can, okay? (((((Hugs))))))

I am so sorry.

*hugs*

My condolences Katiesue. <<HUGS>>

Oh dear. I was afraid this would be the news when I saw the thread resurface. :( My sincere condolences.

Sorry about your loss, but glad to hear the ordeal is finally over. *hugs*

Deepest condolences. :(

*hugs* I'm so sorry.

Good thoughts to you and your family!
 

I'm so sorry, Katiesue! :( My thoughts are with you. **hugs**

sorry to hear it K. Im glad I got a chance to meet her. let me know if theres anything I can do to help

Oh, Katie. :( I am so, so sorry.

We share a dreadful anniversary now.

Thank you for your kind words on my sucktastic day yesterday. You did that for me while you were going through it all yourself. You're teh awesome.

I am wishing you peace right now and in the coming days. Try to keep strong and beware of any baiting from the nutty sister. Try not to engage, it will drain you that much more. I know you know this. It's just so hard to say something, anything at all, that might help.

Even when you see it coming, this is never easy. As much as it is a relief that the suffering has ended, it is still such a loss. Again, I am so sorry.

*hugging you*

Katie, you have all my thoughts and prayers right now.
:(

Thoughts & Hugs to you from The LashPair.

OXOXOXOXOXO

Hugs from Rose and I, Katiesue - let us know if there's anything we can do for you.

So sorry, for the whole ordeal. Hopefully the healing begins now, and you can look forward to a time past all this.

So sorry to hear this news despite its inevitability. Hopefully her peace will spread to the rest of the family - at least long enough for you to do all the stuff you need to do.

Hugs from the Wolfpack....I know this is a bit of a relief, but it was still your Mom...and those memories will never die (know there had to many good ones). If you need anything at all just call. The Wolfpack is here for you.

Major hugs from Florida, and my sincere condolences.

So sorry to hear this, Katie.