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We cannot direct the wind but we can adjust the sails.

This has been quite a crazy weekend for the Serrano-Mateos. Carmen was still retaining a good amount of fluid, so she stayed in the hospital for further observation. Saturday Tom and I hung out with Carmen as Jose had to go be on-call. Since she had been on her feet for a good part of the day she was tired and in pain from the fluid building up in her feet and lower legs. Tom and I massaged her feet, which definitely decreased the fluid and pain. She was pretty exhausted, but still managed to sit at her table to have a delicious dinner that Daniel made for her.


Daniel stayed the night with her, while Tom and I came back to Bethesda to celebrate Kim and Anya's birthday party. As terrible as it may sound, it was nice to have a night where I could be "normal" and hang out with my friends like any other 20ish year old. Not that I don't enjoy being with my mother, but all this has been very overwhelming and to have a night where I don't spend most of the night thinking about my mother's painful situation was a welcomed relief.

On Sunday they ran more tests, did some CT scans to verify if the stents were effectively keeping her vein open and facilitating circulation. The stents are fine, but the liver tumors have grown a visible amount since last week. We are still waiting to hear back from the antibody trial chemo. It may be possible for her to enter the trial as a "sympathy treatment"-- so not actually part of the study, but to try and see if it can help her out.

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