Treatment update...

Hi everyone,

I wanted to post this last night, but I was too tired when I got home so here it is today. Mom was admitted to the hospital yesterday following her echo cardiogram and appointment with Dr. Baweja. As some of you know, her legs had been swelling which we thought was just a side effect from the Sutent but also could have been a sign of heart problems. When she left the hospital after having the echo, she had trouble getting into their car (which is a big SUV). When she told Dr. Baweja that she had been having a lot of weakness in her legs, she decided to keep her in the hospital to run some more tests: an MRI of her spine, a CT scan of her chest, abdomen and pelvis and an ultrasound on her legs. Keeping her in the hospital for the tests would give them the ability to get all the tests done quickly instead of dragging them out for several days.

There is some concern that the thrombus, either a blod clot or a tumor, in the vena cava could be causing the weakness in her legs. (The vena cava is a major vein that provides blood flow from the extremities back to the heart and is located in the middle of the chest/abdomen.) There is also some concern that the cancer has possibly spread to her spine, thus the MRI. I went to see her last night at the hospital and she had the CT scan and the ultrasound done during the evening. She is scheduled to have the MRI this morning sometime. She is hopeful she will get to come home today, but I think that hinges on when they get the MRI done as well as the results from all of the tests.

At this point, they are looking to see if any of the tumors - especially the one in the vena cava - have grown or progressed. Unfortunately, that is all we know right now until Dr. Baweja sees the results from all of the tests. I will post more information as I get it. Sally will be taking care of some stuff at home this morning and should be back at the hospital by early afternoon. We should hopefully have some more information by then as well as have some idea about when they'll be releasing her.

As usual, if I've forgotten anything I'll add it....

Abby