A New Cans o' Worms

So I'm sitting here in the Cardiology Clinic at the U, waiting for Diana.

Since last Thursday, we're reliving the experiences of Henny Penny (okay, not Henny Penny. who was the character that had to get something from someone who wanted something from someone who...?). Anyway, the pulmonary surgeon won't do the operation until Diana has had some pulmonary rehab to improve her lung function, and the pulmonary rehab folks won't let her do that until she's been seen by a cardiologist.

I should back up:

Monday morning, we came back to the U for a brain MRI. It seems that there are three places that a cancer like Diana's might move -- the adrenal glands, the bones, and the brain. The PET scan ruled out the first two, but not the third, and the U surgeon wants all three ruled out before he goes chopping up people's lungs.

Of course, we hadn't really been worried about brain tumors until they started looking for them, so we both kind pussy-footed around that part all weekend. The MRI was first thing Monday morning, and I asked our case manager to let us know ASAP, so by 1pm Monday, we got the legally-defendable phrase that there "were no obvious signs of brain tumors."

Tuesday, I dropped Diana off again, this time to begin pulmonary rehab (8am) and to take the 'VQ' pulmonary test, which is supposed to tell more about exactly which lungs are doing what. During the rehab, something on her EKG didn't look right (something about dropped ST segments associated with ischemia (low blood oxygen?), and her blood pressure rose pretty dramatically, pretty quickly leaving them concerns about high blood pressure. The VQ test got pushed back from 10:00 to 11:00. This test involved blowing nuclear gases into her lungs and x-raying the oxygenation in each lung. Nobody has talked to us about those results yet.

My latest discovery is that this hospital doesn't seem to have any WiFi access, so I can type on Diana's shiny new MacBook, but I can't look anything up. We're hoping to provide Diana internet access while in the hospital; maybe the recovery rooms are different

Later that day...

Today's meeting seemed somewhat superfluous since the doctor read Diana's medical record while she was sitting there, listened to her back and heart and then scheduled a Treadmill Perfusion Scan to assess Blood Flow. It will be similar to the initial treadmill test that opened this can o' worms and initiated all of this cardiac concern. The poop sheet they gave us says:

"A myocaridal perfusion scan is a two-part imaging procedure which uses two redioactive tracers, a camera, and a computer to produce pictures of blood flow to the heart muscle during rest and after stress (walking on the treadmill or by using medications called adenosine or dobutamine). The scan will tell if there are areas of the heart muscle that do not receive enough blood either at rest or during stress.

Once those results are in -- early next week -- Diana will be put on an appropriate respiratory rehab program to help build up the right lung. That program is normally eight weeks. Diana is scheduled for three weeks with follow-up exams. We're guessing that at that point they will either schedule Diana for surgery or order her to complete the rehab program in preparation for surgery.

While complaining of no pain, Diana is experiencing a dull ache on the left side of her chest. She thinks it's because her brain knows someone was cutting in there... Sometimes after sitting or reclining for a long time it aches a bit, but it goes away quickly. She hasn't taken anything for pain in a couple weeks now.

The first week of eldercare has worked well. It only took half a dozen people and a day care agency to replace what Diana was doing...

We're doing what we can to learn more about our options and appreciate everything that our family and friends are doing to help.

We're also trying to relax...