Day 61 at Cancer Treatment Centers of America

Monday, July 28th, 2014

    This morning we arrived at the CTCA at 8:00 a.m..  Meemaw could not walk much so I had to run in and go get a wheelchair for her.  I let her sit down and then we went in for her appointments.  She had radiation at 8:45 a.m., so I pushed her all the way down to radiology and I got her checked in.  The nurse said that we could go on back to the radiation waiting room already.  Today was a fast and I mean really fast day, we sat down in the waiting room and within ten minutes the nurse took her back.  I went to the lobby and sat down with Uncle Bubba, Papa, and my little sister Kayleigh.

We went to the new Cancer Fighters Center and it was really neat.  They aren't completely finished with it.   We stayed for about ten minutes then we went back down stairs to wait on Meemaw.

The pictures hanging in the Cancer Fighters Center

In about 5 more minutes Meemaw came out and it was time for our next appointment on the schedule.

 Next on the schedule was a blood draw.  Then, she had to get an x-ray on her stomach because she had been experiencing stomach pains and nausea this past weekend.  Uncle Bubba, Meemaw and I had to go back into a room to see the Quality of Life doctor.  The doctor came in and told us that everything was fine and normal with her x-ray and blood work except for her potassium again. Her docter gave her some kind of liquid called kayexalate that reduces her potassium and it makes her use the bathroom (if you know what I mean).  Then we got in the car and went home and when we got home she drank it but it did nothing to her!  Weird right?
   

Day 58 at Cancer Treatment Centers of America

Wednesday, July 23rd 2014

Mom woke up this morning extremely nauseous and sick.  She was scheduled for radiation at 9:25 a.m., but was unable to complete today's treatment due to her constant vomiting.  We now have ten more radiation treatments to go and Dr. Norleena Gullett really wants to do what ever it takes to get mom through these last treatments.  Zofran was administered through her port to stop the nausea.

During the weekly Radiation Oncology follow-up with Dr. Gullett and Kathy McLaine, Dr. Gullett asked dad to go to the car and bring in mom's bag with all of her medications and supplements.  Magic Mouthwash needs to be used 3 times a day again.  Aquaphore is to be used on her neck after radiation treatments and before going to bed.  Silvadene is not needed while there are no open wounds or a  threat of infection.  Dr. Gullett discontinued 10 supplements and medications.

Although, Gullett believes that all of the supplements that she is currently taking are great for her overall health, since mom is experiencing nausea, it's best to eliminate some things.

During the Nurse Assessment in the clinic with mom's nurse Dee, mom was weighed as usual and mom has lost another pound, now she is at 106.  After mom's appointment with Georgianna to go over any changes, it was time to met with Letitia Price, Nurse Practitioner, to review mom's blood work.  Everything was good except her potassium is elevated.  Her blood levels were off a bit probably from vomiting so much this morning.  Letitia ordered an hour of fluids to see how mom's blood work looks tomorrow.  Unfortunately, infusion couldn't fit her in until 5:00 p.m. and mom said not today.   The infusion has been rescheduled for tomorrow during her appointment for Chemotherapy at 10:00 a.m..