The Start of the Ride

This is so that my friends and family can follow my battle with Adrenal Cortical Cancer.

So how did this all start. Well first let me tell you that this form of cancer is usually found totally by accident. So how did we discover that I have it?

About a month ago I felt kidney pain on my left side. I learned 30 years ago that if I drank a lot of cranberry juice it would help me pass a kidney stone. After nearly a month of no success passing a stone I thought that maybe I had several stones. These stones are no where near smooth and so they could be stuck together. I thought at the hospital they would take an x-ray and then use some sort of a laser to blast them apart so that I could pass them.

So on Sunday February 19th I had enough of the pain and drove myself to the ER department at Baystate Medical Center, at 11:30 pm. The place was crowded. It must have been funny to watch me wait. I bounced from one seat to another trying to find a comfortable seat. I never had any luck. Finally at 4 am I was taken into the treatment area. I was taken to an area designed for two patients and I was the third person in the space.

Once I told the doctor about my medical history and the pain sure enough I was off to have a CT Scan. It didn't take long for the results to come back. My kidney was not were it belonged, instead there was a mass 7 cm in size. This was pushing down on my adrenal gland which was pushing down on my kidney, thus the pain. There were no stones in my kidney.

This caused the doctors to decided to have me admitted to the hospital for tests to see just what is going on. So by 7 am I was admitted and upstairs. Then a battery of tests where started. The next test another CT Scan this one checking the entire torso, and using a dye to create a contrast in the images.This was ordered by my Hospitalist, an intern in charge of my care. He of course was supervised by an attending Hospitalist

Brother Welliver and Brother Wilson came to the hospital and gave me a Blessing.  I had called my Mom from the ER and asked her to have someone bring me my bathrobe, toothbrush, toothpaste and a hairbrush, etc. I did not ask for a nightgown or PJ's because I knew I would spend most of my time  in a hospital johnny. I wanted the bathrobe to allow me some modesty.

 I had parked it in the ambulance parking area. Before I went upstairs my plate was read over the loud speaker in the ER saying it needed to be moved. I got someone to get the security guard so I could tell them it was my car. A guard named Jackson came and he said I would have to let him move my car. I clearly could not do it. So he did and then brought the keys back to me. He told me where he had parked my car so I could get it when I left. I explained to him that I was being admitted and told him a member of my family would come and take the car home. He told me if they had any questions about were it was parked to ask for him and he would show them where it was. He was very nice.

Don & Mary picked up Brooke, Cyrena and RaeRae and came to see me. Don brought me my bathrobe and other items. Brooke was there to get my car. The next day I was suppose to take the car in for an oil change and to find out why the check engine light was on. Brooke took care of all of that for me.

After a review of the 2nd CT Scan I met a group of doctors, gynecologist, it seem that my ovaries and cervix didn't look right on the CT Scan. So they examined me and sent me down for an ultrasound, external and internal. That was a new thing for me. They wanted to see if I had cancer of the ovaries and/or the cervix. The results were I do not. Hurray for that!! The next day they did a pap smear just to be on the safe side. It takes two weeks to get the results of that test so I am still waiting on that.

So next comes an Endocrine Surgeon. He examines me and along with my side and abdomen he checks my neck. Oops, there are at least 2 lymph nodes that are swollen on the left side of my neck. Not a good sign.This doctor told me that he believes that I have Adrenal Cancer!!!

By now it is Wednesday, Frank comes in with Cyrena and RaeRae, Jenny is at Young Women's. RaeRae at just nine years old surprises me with a question. She asked if I did anything to cause this cancer. I asked her if she meant the way cigarets cause lung cancer and she said yes. I told her that I didn't think so.

I had trouble sleeping, gee I wonder why? I made a list of questions that I had. I added RaeRae's question to mine. The next morning I had 3 endocrinologist and the attending Hospitalist all in to see me at once. These 3 endocrinologist do not include the surgeon that saw me the night before, in this group is a resident, a fellow, and the attending. All three of these doctors examine me.

Seeing has I had the attention of 4 doctors I asked my questions then explained that I had one last question from my 9 yr old granddaughter. I asked her question the attending endocrinologist answered the question NO! But it could have environmental causes'

The swollen lymph nodes caused me to be sent down for yet another CT Scan. This time on the lymph nodes and while there they also did two biopsies, a core biopsy and a cell biopsy. They are going to do cross sections on the cells and create about 100 slides that will each be died differently to determine just what kind of cells they are. It is crazy what modern science/medicine.

Speaking of modern science my older brother now lives in Manilla, Philippines, he called me via Skype and we talked for about 1/2 hour at a cost of only 79 cents. That is really cool. We had a great visit.

I have a dear friend in Los Vegas who called me every night while I was in the hospital. That really helped to keep my spirits up.

Along with the tests I have mentioned they have drawn a lot of blood and tested my urine. My kidney functions are just fine.

Leave it to me to get a rare form of cancer. Because of that the Nephrologists, doctors who study the kidney's are following my case. Three of them came to see me on Friday before I was discharged.

Just in case any of you don't know Baystate is a teaching hospital. I view having the interns, fellows, student nurses and CNA's around has a great thing. After all it is a built in second opinion. If it works they way I think it does the students suggest to their instructors what they think my plan of care should be and if they are wrong or incomplete their instructors helps them to correct or complete the picture so I get great care.

On Thursday evening Frank brought all three girls up, Jenny, Cyrena and RaeRae. Jenny asked a great question. She told me she knew that cancer patient get chemo therapy and that chemo causes them to go bald. So she asked me if I was willing to be bald if it meant that I could live! I told her YES!!!

Then I told her there are hats and wigs to cover the baldness. I also reminded her that two ladies at Church donate their hair every two years to Locks for Love. (One, Lucy, has strawberry blonde hair, and her mother,Rita, has salt and pepper hair like me) Jenny said it would be funny if I got Lucy's hair. I asked her if she really thought it would look good on me. After thinking about it she said I should get Rita's hair! We all laughed. I called Rita the next day and she and her daughter laughed with us.

ALL of those who cared for me for the 5 days I was there were great! Thank you one and all.  I was visited by a total of 15 doctors, 11 of them in a 4 hour period on Friday afternoon.

My care is not going to be transferred over to the D'Amour Cancer Center, which is part of the Baystate Medical Center. Tuesday, I have to go in as an outpatient for a bone density test. I don't go back to see the Endocrine Surgeon for 10 to 14 days. That is how long it will be before all of the test results will be in.

So far I have been able to keep my spirits high and with the help of pain med's I am able to keep the pain manageable. But waiting for the results is going to be a tough test!

To those of you who wish there was something you could do to help me there is. You can pray for me, keep me laughing, send cards, or send balloons, and size or color. Or just post a note to let me know that I am in your thoughts.

I am not sure just how often I will update this blog it will depend on if there is anything new to tell and how I feel.