tomorrow! tomorrow!

Carmen's procedure is tomorrow....

So after doing an extensive ultrasound of her legs (to map the veins for the procedure etc.) and a CT scan of her head (to ensure that she doesn't have any lesions that could bleed out during the procedure) there was no time to actually do the procedure, so it has been pushed back to tomorrow morning. Which is actually better because the ICU's night staff is a lot smaller (more people=more attention on Carmen) and Carmen had this afternoon to relax after her sleepless night.

She was very tired and weak today, and because of it was feeling a little overly nervous about the risky procedure tomorrow. Her doctor assured her that the team was one of the best and that she had nothing to worry about, which made her feel a lot better. She also got some pain meds which made her feel a lot more comfortable and able to rest more, as she put it, "my body... is like nirvana." Carmen had a special visitor today! Anna stopped by her stomping grounds to see me and Carmen. It was really sweet, Carmen got emotional, but was so happy to see the young Dr. Sick. Carmen was tired of hospital food, so we got her some Panera, which she enjoyed. Tom and I left early so Carmen and Jose could get some rest.

Sweet dreams Carmencita, you have a big day tomorrow, but everything will be just fine!

Comments

The feared M-word

Today I felt the pain of mortality stab me in the heart. I have always been optimistic of my mother’s condition, knowing that with optimism and hope we could battle her cancer and finally overcome her disease. These past few years since her diagnosis of retroperitoneal liposarcoma in October/September of 2005 have been a rollercoaster of highs and lows, getting through it all. I tried to be strong for my mother, show her the strength she has within, assure her that she is doing everything she can to heal herself, and that surely she is on her way to recovery. I thought that in believing in her and her strength that she would be able to overcome anything. With every returning tumor she was better equipped to heal her body, to teach her body to heal itself. I was there supporting her through her surgeries, her trial chemo treatments, always there letting her know that she was on the road to recovery. Today after finishing her second round of a trial chemo that seemed hopefull...

Carmen Mateo

My mother was first diagnosed with retroperitoneal liposarcoma in October of 2005. I had come home to see her in the hospital—during the removal of a cyst on her breast the doctors accidentally punctured her lung. It was during her stay at the hospital that they completed an MRI of her core (to verify the lung’s status) and found a large mysterious mass—a tumor. Though frightened by this news she was thankful for the discovery. Weeks went by as my parents spoke with other doctors and centers trying to figure out what this tumor was and what to do. Eventually she was diagnosed—liposarcoma, a rare type of cancerous tumor that manifests itself as a mass of fat. The irony of it—my mother the skinniest petite woman in the world, had a fat tumor. Right before Thanksgiving she went to Sloan Kettering to have surgery to remove the almost 8lb tumor. Being the strong woman that she is, she recovered quickly from the surgery and began her healing journey. It was years bef...

"Nothing with me is simple...

but I am STILL HERE!" - Carmen Today was another crazy day for Carmen, you know to keep things interesting. The radiologists looked at the ultrasound, and based on that thought that perhaps it wasn't blood clots but the compression of the inferior vena cava instead. So they did a venogram to look at the veins to verify the presence of the blood clots. As it turned out, there were no blood clots, and the fluid retention was based on the compression of the lower vena cava. The doctors put in 2 or 3 stents to reinforce the vein that was nearly completely compressed by the tumors, which took quite some time because of a minor hiccup. The second stent only half deployed, but was attached to the stent above it, and so they had to hold the top stent from above as they pulled the lower stent to fully open it. (To all my future doctor friends--I can't believe you are going to be doing crazy on the spot stuff like this. You guys are awesome!) Because Carmen was actually half con...

Nectar of Life

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