A Tough Time

Hi Everyone…so this is actually Corey, Kathy’s sister…not to worry!!!  She is hanging in there and doing all right.  Kathy asked that I update everyone since your support has been so amazing.  She is counting on all of you to pray for her and to keep her in your thoughts—but at this point, she is literally just too fatigued to do the writing (although we all know that I can’t even try to do her amazing writing over the last six months any justice at all!). 

The update is as follows: 

Approximately two weeks ago, Kathy began to struggle with her cough and with fatigue.  She contacted her oncologist a few times…initially, the physician told her that it “was related to the cancer”; eventually, the physician relented and told her to come in for some testing.  Based on the testing, it was clear that she had a urinary tract infection.  Okay…this was treatable.  Not a problem, right?—Go on antibiotics…Unfortunately, however, the medication did not seem to dissuade the fatigue…and the itchiness…and the cough…and the bruising…Kathy assumed that these were all symptoms related to the ugly cancer itself.  These symptoms could be addressed by the chemo, right?!…The goal was to GET THE CHEMO!  This past Friday, feeling the worst that she has felt in several months, we went to Duke for her chemotherapy (the new cocktail prescribed by the folks at MD Anderson)!

Following the initial blood tests (always the prelude to the chemotherapy), we were told that her liver was not working properly…hence the reason for her jaundiced appearance, bruising, itchiness, and ultra-fatigue.  Ultimately, a duct was clogged, which needs to be opened in order to ensure that her liver is doing its job.  She needed to be admitted and chemotherapy was not going to be an option this week.   Needless to say, Kathy was NOT happy about this…perhaps defeated is the best word to describe the response.    To add insult to injury, based on a CT scan that afternoon, we discovered that the cancer has spread in both her liver and her lungs; ultimately, the tumors have grown in her liver and are now blocking the ducts that allow the liver to function properly. Seriously?!  It’s only been six weeks since the last chemotherapy infusion…DAMN CANCER!!!

After multiple hours of waiting and the CT scan to confirm the blocked duct, a bed was made available and Kathy was transported to the hospital for admission into the Cancer Treatment Unit.  She is now resting (comfortably thanks to multiple doses of codeine and lots of additional intravenous antibiotics) and is waiting for Monday (or Tuesday), when she will have the stent procedure to open up a duct into her liver.   This procedure (Everyone, cross your fingers!!!) will make her MUCH more comfortable and energetic…it will also allow for her to begin the new chemotherapy regime in a week or so, assuming that the procedure goes as planned. 

Kathy is feeling a bit more optimistic again…she believes that she will at least FEEL better again—and I agree!!!…AND she is trusting her amazing husband and crazy family (me included—she is a total nut for this part, by the way!) to take care of her amazing, beautiful, above-average-in-every-way daughter while she is in the hospital. 

I am hoping that she will take back the reigns to this blog as soon as possible…obviously, she is the talented one in the family when it comes to writing…I am simply the big sisterJ.  If everyone can cross their fingers, pray to their gods (God), and send forth their biggest and best hugs, however, I would much appreciate it!!!  Thank you—and Kathy will be back on-line soon!

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