Ahhhhh... how to lose 11 pounds in one hour

Eleven pounds is about the weight of a large sack of groceries.  It's also the weight of 5.150 liters of fluid, which is what Peg was relieved of this afternoon.  For the first time in 10 days, when our friends Paul and Traci brought us dinner tonight, Peg was able to sit up in a chair comfortably for an hour.

I apparently looked harmless enough they allowed me to be in the room while they did the procedure.  Originally it was to be CT guided (big machine, complicated, sedatives involved) but they were able to see the fluid with ultrasound and just gave Peg a local anesthetic.  The trippy part for me (see photo) is that the scalpels used in medical facilities look and retract just like the cheapo box cutters you find at Home Depot.  Maybe he was actually using a Home Depot box cutter...I was about 10 feet away and distracted by all the weird equipment.

Also for your consideration is what 5 liters of fluid looks like.  Take three 2-liter Pepsi bottles, pour out half of the third one and throw 'em in a grocery bag.  That's what Peg's been lugging around.

Fluid buildup like this happens as a result of the tumors causing a reaction and the trauma of major surgery.  It's unlikely it will build up like this again.

Peg self-diagnosed the fluid on Saturday, but our surgeon wanted to rule out other causes. Dueling doctors.  But I think he realizes he really needs to listen to Peg's concerns.  We're grateful for his surgical skills, but on patient followup, not so much.

Tuesday we meet with Peg's oncologist, who we really, really like.  I'll keep you posted.  In the meantime, after not eating much the last few days, Peg's enjoying her time in the "pie hole zone." Beats the crap out of Ensure and Pedialite. 

Peg gets some relief... on Friday

Tomorrow's the soonest she can get in to have the fluid drained from her abdomen.  Just after lunch, Left Coast Daylight Savings Time, if you open your window and listen really carefully, you'll hear a big sigh of relief coming from the vicinity of Sutter General Hospital.  That would be our sweet Peg.

Zoë spent yesterday afternoon with Aunt Jeanette, swimming and doing girlie things, including making oatmeal cookies.  Peg's had a solid sleep last night.

Every day is a box of chocolates-- you never know what you're going to get (but there's always some sweet stuff in there somewhere).

CT scan results

Peg's been miserably bloated since the surgery.  "Eight months pregnant" bloated for eight long days.  It's made it difficult for her find a comfortable position, sitting or lying down, and she hasn't been able to eat as much as she'd like because of the pressure.

Yesterday she got a CT scan, today we got the results: fluid buildup.  They're arranging for drainage, which they'll do in conjunction with another CT scan to find all the pockets.  Hopefully that'll happen today, but if not, tomorrow.  It's an outpatient procedure.

The barium glop Peg drank for the CT scan kept her running to the can from mid-evening through this morning, so she didn't get a lot of sleep last night.  She'll be under a lot less stress when she can eat normally and rest easily.

Welcome back! The blog resumes... with your help

I've missed doing this blog, but we had a major security breach-- Peg's former patients and people we don't know/hardly know finding the blog. That's why we're requiring you to sign in... we just can't have this happen again. So I'm asking everyone reading this to swear on their Captain Cancer Secret Decoder Rings to

NOT

share the title of this blog, or your email, or your password, with

ANYONE.

You might have a friend or colleague who knows Peg, but

PLEASE

leave the decision of whether they can view the blog up to our family. Once a URL and password is on the Web, even if the intention is benign, the consequences can be pretty messy (horse is out of the barn).

For those of us old farts who remember the "Hogan's Heroes" TV show, in the immortal words of Schultzie: "I see nussing, I remember nussing..." Thanks for your help with this. I really want to keep the blog going, but if it gets outside this group, I'll have to pull the plug.

So. Only you are the intended reader. If you know of someone else who might want to follow the blog, please email me at ericwarp@comcast.net and I'll run it past Peg. We're trying to reduce her stress level, and this blog--as useful as it is-- is a potential stressor. Cancer-bad. Stress-bad. Cancer+stress-really bad.

We're settling back in (sort of). Peg's got a good appetite, but lots of belly distention. Doing a CT scan tomorrow afternoon to rule out anything besides her innards being slow to wake up. She's thin (except for her belly), has a good appetite and attitude, and is able to shower and go to the bathroom sans entourage. Looking forward to figuring out what to do next.