Updates for Family & Friends

Sometimes I write a note to let you know how things are going. So, if you want to know-this is for you!

I went to my internist today for a follow up visit. She told me that she was REALLY worried about me when I saw her Friday. She said I was very very sick-almost hospital sick. I knew I felt bad, but I didn't realize it was THAT bad. So, I want to thank the Lord for a quick recovery. I'm blessed that Russ insisted I call the doctor-I was trying to tough it out. Evidently, the Metformin for the new diabetes diagnosis just wasn't right for me. I tried it for 3 weeks, and it caused gastroenteritis (tummy problems). Today she prescribed a new drug called Januvia. It is a brand new diabetes medication. Here is the information about it-for those who are following the diabetes journey:

JANUVIA lowers blood sugar when blood sugar is high, especially after a meal. JANUVIA also lowers blood sugar between meals.
JANUVIA helps to improve the levels of insulin produced by your own body after a meal.
JANUVIA decreases the amount of sugar made by the body. JANUVIA is unlikely to cause your blood sugar to be lowered to a dangerous level (hypoglycemia) because it does not work when your blood sugar is low.

The doctor believes my facial pain and eye pressure-that returned on Friday-is another sinus infection. I don't have any nasal symptoms or drainage, but she said that could be why I have so much pain-because it is blocked up in the sinuses. I'm supposed to call the Ear/Nose/Throat doctor to let them know I might be having another infection, to see if he will examine me while I'm actually in the middle of an infection (when I went to the ENT before, I wasn't having an active infection, so all he could see was allergies). The internist is concerned about these frequent sinus infections and wants a specialist to evaluate it. I'm hesitant to call because I'm not having any nasal symptoms. I guess I'll play it by ear and see how things develop this week.

I need to be all well in time for my minor surgery, which is scheduled for February 5th.

And all the while, I'm still working. So glad about that!

Also, I have an update on Russ's dad. I talked with him the other day to get my questions answered regarding his newest cancer. His primary cancer is chondrosarcoma (he lost a toe and later he lost his lower leg). He also has prostate cancer. Well, the CT scan shows a very definite chondrosarcoma mass of 6 mm that is not well defined at this point. It is not anywhere near where his blood clot was, so what they see isn't scarring from that. The doctors say it looks exactly like a chondrosarcoma and they would have said that without even knowing of his history with this specific cancer.

They are waiting until April to take another scan to see if it grows. If it has increased in size, and is a little more defined so they can get a biopsy of it, they will do a needle biopsy (they cannot reach it via bronchoscopy). If they did a biopsy of it now, they might miss the mass, since it is small and not well defined on the films. While he is on the operating table they will confirm the cancer, and then do a laproscopic removal of the mass, which will require a 3-inch incision. Chondrosarcoma can only be cured by removal of the tumor-there is no chemotherapy or radiation that will treat it. Also, there are only two places this time of cancer shows up: bone and lungs. His tumor does not have any satellites, so this is good news. It doesn't seem like there are 'seeds" that will spread into other tumors (some patients end up having multiple lung surgeries to remove these tumors). So-we wait until April to see what the CT scan shows. If it hasn't grown, then he may not have surgery. That would be my prayer for him!

Thanks for your concern, and for your prayers. Keep them up!