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| Trip to Florida - Disney with the boys |
Oct. 5: First trip in an ambulance during our stay at DisneyWorld, trip to ER due to vomiting and severe abdominal cramping (discovered a week later they were gall bladder attacks). Luckily I was only admitted for 24 hours and was still able to enjoy all of the favorite parks/rides with the boys.
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| Disney Halloween Party |
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| Cohen - exhausted and loving Mickey! |
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| Character Breakfast at resort |
Oct. 8-11: ER trip #2/hospital stay #2 - after returning from Florida due to gall bladder attacks, CT scan
Oct. 14-17: Hospital stay #3 - Interventional Radiology - gall bladder embolization preformed by Dr. McDreamy (cut off blood supply to the tumor, due to the vascularity of its nature) and then immediately went into the operating room for an Open (Cholecystectomy) gall bladder surgery. This is considered major abdominal surgery and I will admit it was the worst pain I have ever experienced. Fortunately time heals all wounds and a month later I only have tenderness at my incision from time to time.
Another CT Scan was performed during this hospital stay....and it showed a "huge" reduction in my liver masses due to the TheraSphere procedure which was performed the month prior. Dr. McDreamy confirmed it was "uncommon" to see such a reduction in only one month and stated I had a "very good response". The maximum shrinkage is apparently the most 4-6 months post TheraSphere....so we are keeping our fingers crossed that the little beads continue to work their magic for several more months.
Oct. 28: Hospital visit - discussed gall bladder pathology report. A golf ball size mass was in my gall bladder (thankful the organ is no longer in me). Discovered what one doctor said was "two forms of cancer in my gall bladder".
- Adenocarcinoma of the gall bladder (extremely rare type of cancer - they now believe this is my primary)
- The doctors feel the Adenocarcinoma of the gall bladder then mutated into the "Small Cell Poorly Differentiated Neuroendocrine" cancer I had initially been diagnosed with seven months ago. At this point, the mets (in my liver) are still believed to be the neuroendocrine cancer that simply mutated.
Oct. 30-Nov. 2: ER trip #3/hospital stay #4 - gall bladder symptoms were gone, although I was still extremely fatigued, loss of appetite (had lost about 12 pounds in the last month), and just generally feeling crappy. Had multiple scans trying to figure out why I wasn't getting better, including another CT-Scan, a Brain MRI, and a Spine MRI (which lasted 2.5 hours, purely brutal due to being strapped down and locked in place. Will certainly request being knocked out if I ever have to have another one). Brain MRI showed I had several small lesions on my brain. Met with a wonderful doctor (who I like to believe is one of my angels) who informed me of my next step along this journey....radiation of the brain. During a dark time, she took the time to nurture me and my family. She cried along with us, gave me words of wisdom when I desperately needed it, expressed that she expected I "would have good results" with the radiation, and she is simply one of the most compassionate doctors I have been fortunate enough to meet. So grateful she is part of my team.
Nov. 8-21: Part of a clinical trial for brain mets, where I undergo 10 days of radiation, as well as take an oral chemo pill twice a day. Side effects are loss of hair (although I am still sporting all of my stubborn pixy cut), burns due to the radiation and fatigue.
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| Waiting for my last radiation treatment - 11.21.11 |
So....that is my last two months in a nutshell. Thankful to be done with my radiation treatments....so I can truly enjoy spending quality time with my entire family this Thanksgiving holiday.
Still believing in peace, love and miracles.
Dawn Berlynn
dawnbfox@hotmail.com
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