Sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything. We always hope no news is good news, right?
On that note, things are going alright for MaeLynn. Not perfect, but alright. A couple of weeks ago she got to go on a weekend getaway with some old college roommates. It was SO fun and relaxing. However, while she was there, she was having some pretty extreme pains in her 'gut'. So after the long weekend, she called her oncologist, and got in to see him. He was able to prescribe a phentanol patch for her. It is a small transparent patch about two inches long and one inch wide that releases the drug phentanolthat she can put anywhere on her upper body . It's used for chronic pain and interestingly enough, women in labor.
The patch has helped a lot, although when used in combination with her everyday Lortab, she says it makes her VERY tired. When I saw her a few days after she got the patch, she could barely keep her eyes open while we talked. But the PAIN is taken care of...and that's good. She apparently doesn't need the patch all the time, either. She can wear it for three days, and then take a break until she feels like she needs it again.
While she was at the oncologist, they also drew some blood to see how her hormone levels are doing. I guess that's a good indicator of what the cancer is doing without having to do CT scans etc.
For a little background, everyone has a hormone called chromagranin A in their bodies. A normal person has about 50 parts per million (ppm) of this hormone in their blood. When MaeLynn found out she had cancer 2 1/2 months ago, she had 23,000 ppm of this hormone in her blood. When she got the results back this last week from her blood test, the chromagranin A was at 32,000 ppm. She didn't know exactly what that meant, but it doesn't sound great. She had an appointment with her internist last Friday to talk about the results of the blood test, but I haven't had a chance to find out how that went.
I'll let you all know more when I know more. Hope everyone is well.
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thanks for keeping us posted!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the update Laura. You are so great to keep us all informed. Especially all of us who are so far away.
ReplyDeleteLove the pictures - Abby's a doll. Glad to hear they were able to help with the pain. We'll see you guys again…in October?
ReplyDeleteHoly Bajigglies! 33k ppm compared to 50! My brain cannot comprehend that difference.
ReplyDeleteThose family pictures are really awesome, especially the one of all the kids.
I know that Sarah loved that college-girl get-away.