pamela

Hi Everyone,

We went back to Michigan yesterday and we are home again. Rather than type all this out again, I will give you Lauren’s blog address and you can read about our visit there. I think she should start feeling better soon. Thanks for caring. -Pam

http://www.loveandhopeforlauren.blogspot.com

Hi Everyone,

We aren’t going to be home for long. We went downstairs to the basement today and Lauren stepped on the scale, curious to see how much she weighed since she hasn’t been eating very much. We couldn’t believe when we looked at the scale that Lauren gained 29 pounds since her surgery day which was two weeks ago. It is all fluid. This is how puffy the poor thing is. I called Dr. Sonnenday’s office and talked to his nurse. I told her about the swelling and that her incision site is weeping a little. She paged Dr. Sonnenday and he ordered a set of labs. We went to our local hospital for that and they faxed the results to him. He also wanted to see Lauren this Friday and ordered an ultrasound test for Lauren’s legs to make sure she has no blood clots. He also upped her Lasix dose to Two 20mg. tablets instead of one daily. She seems to go to the bathroom a little more today. So it is off to Michigan for the day on Friday. Another weird thing that has happened is that Lauren is losing her hair again. She hasn’t had chemo since Feb., but her hair was falling out in clumps. So, today after the hospital, we took Lauren and she got her hair cut really short, not buzzed. She looks cute in any hairstyle, but she was trying so hard to grow her hair long for her wedding. Just thought you all might like to know what is going on. Thanks for caring.

Love,
-Pam

Thanks, Holly. I won’t worry so much then. Anybody got any tips for reducing fluid retention?

Thank you all for the well wishes for Lauren. I must say that I am quite uncomfortable with your praises for me. I am just a Mom taking care of her child like any Mom should do. Thank you, though and I’m so glad I have all of you in my corner.

Love you all so much,
-Pam

Hi Everyone,
I have been updating on FB and thought I should update you too. Wow! I looked back and haven’t updated for a long time. Lauren had her CT scan on Wed. and there was not much growth of the good side of her liver. They had hoped for a large amount of growth, but didn’t happen. Lauren is not disappointed at all. She feels she will be better ready for the second surgery after she gets stronger. Lauren got to come home from the hospital last night and we are staying in Ypsilanti with Kristen and Bruce. Gio and Mark came up last night also. They brought a recliner from my Mom and Dad’s house for Lauren to sit in during the day. She slept in a bed last night without nurses bugging her all night!! And no more hospital food!! That was the worst. She has no drains or anything anymore. I give her a Lovenox shot everyday in her stomach and she is on lasix because she has a lot of fluid buildup around her stomach and in her legs. We will probably go home to Ohio on Monday. Lauren got up this afternoon from her recliner, put some pants, robe, and slippers on and went outside and walked around the cul-de-sac in front of Kristen’s house. She is doing really well. Dr. Sonnenday called her last night and said that he will re-scan her in 2-3 weeks and hopefully her liver has grown by then. He said she has enough good liver to do it now, but would feel better after it had grown more. Lauren also wants to go to her cousin’s wedding on May 4th, so Dr. Sonnenday said the surgery date would be set for after that. I also wanted to tell you that the pathology reports came back from her surgery. The tumors they removed from the left side were all dead! They removed six lymph nodes and only one showed cholangiocarcinoma cells, so hopefully that took care of that. All the rest were clean. Once her right side is removed with the large tumor, it should all be gone!! Lauren is one special girl and has been through so much, but she is strong as ever and ready to fight for the next surgery. Thanks for all your support and I hope everyone is doing well.
Love,
-Pam

Hi Everyone,

Sorry it has been so long. I will try and update more. Lauren is getting better one small step at a time. I am surprised at how slow the process is. Lauren is the most stubborn person you would ever meet. She does things her way on her time!! I said this to Kristen, my oldest daughter and she gave me this look and said, She is just like you, Mom. She has all her IVs out now and is only on oral pain meds. She is also taking lasix because her legs are swollen with fluid. They wrapped them in ace bandages and that is helping. She can get up and walk to the bathroom and we really wanted her to walk more, so I had to use tough love yesterday with the help of Kristen, Bruce, Gio, and Ryan. She is angry with me, but will get over it. This is all out of love. She has been so drugged up and not really there, so they took away one med and she is only getting the dosage of morphine she got before the surgery at home. I think it took this long to get all the other drugs out of her system. She had help from physical therapy and walked down the hallway. Then we took her on a wheelchair ride all around the hospital. She probably is losing a lot of weight because she is barely eating. Nothing tastes good and she just isn’t hungry. She is just puffy with fluid. Gio stayed with her last night and the night before so I could get some rest. It feels so good to sleep in a bed. I am taking care of myself so don’t worry about me. We just want Lauren to get strong so that her next surgery on Friday is easier on her. Well, gotta run. Thanks for the concern, prayers, and comfort.

Love,
-Pam

Hi Lainy,

They just paged us and said the laparascopic part looked good with no cancer outside the liver. They were going to proceed with the operation!! I was so worried they might see something and cancel the operation. There are five of us in the waiting area and three more coming so we have a great support system. Keep praying everyone because it is working!!