The Scariest Moments

Within a few hours of writing Friday's blog, we had the worse scare thus far. Friday night mom began feeling very breathless again and was having panic attacks. We eventually got her to settle down and kept a close eye on her throughout the night. I think I feel asleep around midnight. Then at 2 a.m. Saturday morning, things quickly changed for the worse. The breathing was acting up again but this time it was coupled with really bad chest pain. She couldn't physically get up and walk either. We decided she need to be rushed to the ER asap. We were going to call ambulance but decided to just drive to the Unity Hospital since they are quite familiar with her medical situation and they could reach Dr. A or his team pretty easily. We scrambled to get her things packed and her ready for the trip to the ER. My brother-in-law physically carried her up the stairs and into my car.  In the midst of it all, I felt so sick that I just threw up all my food from the night before. But, I got myself together and focused on what I needed to do to get through this.

We quickly drove to the ER. It was so eerie...driving in the wee hours of the morning and no one around. It felt like the Twilight zone. We arrived at the hospital and got her admitted right away. They did all the necessary preliminary tests and we filled them in on what's been going on lately. She was put on oxygen and given morphine to control the pain for immediate relief. She was then assigned to her own room in the cancer ward after a few hours in the ER. They did a chest x-ray but it showed that the amount of fluid in her chest was just a small amount. They were puzzled as to what was going on.

Later in the day, she started having breathing issues again (with oxygen on) and they rushed her to get a thora to get whatever fluid drained. To their surprise, they drained 675 cc's from the left side of the lung. For some reason, her x-ray was not showing this. Later in the afternoon, Dr. K who's an oncologist and works with Dr. A, came on duty. He thought it was all rather perplexing and ordered a rush ct scan. He said that the amount of pain mom was feeling was still there and she should have started to feel a lot better after draining 675 cc's of fluid from the lungs. Within an hour or so, we got the ct results back and learned that mom had multiple blood clots in her chest. She also had one in her left foot which is why she felt weak in her legs. They started her on a fast acting blood thinner via her iv to get things under control.

On Sunday, we learned a bit more. Not only did she have multiple clots but they were pretty massive and began to branch off so surgery was out of the question. Dr. K said that it was very good that they caught this when they did. It all could have end in a blink of an eye.He also said she's still not out of the woods yet. The next few days are crucial. They are doing what they can but at the same time, the condition is very very serious. He said that she can just stop breathing or her heart can just stop beating.

She's being given another blood thinner today though I am not sure when that will be. She's scheduled for an IPC (indwelling plueral catheter) surgical procedure later this afternoon. This will at least help the fluid buildup so they don't have to constantly poke holes in her lungs.

So,  that's where we're at. I will update how the procedure goes later today. Thank you for all your kind words and those who've reached out to me and our family. I hope everyone understands that I can't update each and everyone individually via the phone. I haven't been home a lot, haven't had much sleep and just trying to get through these days.

Right now, we have a lot going on and I have to be there for mom.