Ruth had the other half of her liver zapped last week at the NC Cancer Center using the same chemoembolization procedure that was so successful on the first half. Read more about the procedure and what it does on this previous blog. There were no major problems, but it did take a lot longer for the doctors to stop the bleeding from her hepatic artery and one of the drugs they gave her caused vomiting. Ruth ended up staying an extra night at the hospital. John stayed in the hospital room with her both nights.
Ruth is glad to be back home and resting. She has some discomfort and major fatigue so please keep this in mind if you call or visit her. She needs her naps these days. Ruth's appetite is lacking and she's finding that food she'd normally enjoy doesn't seem that appealing right now. I expect she'll feel like her normal self within another week or so, especially after her liver shrinks down to its regular size and stops crowding her stomach. Personally, I just want my mother to weigh more than I do since she's 5'10'' and I'm just 5'4". Where do we sign up for fat transplants so I can make a donation?
Ruth will probably go back to Chapel Hill in about 6 weeks for another MRI to look at the effectiveness of the chemoembolization. She'll continue to receive monthly injections of the octreotide drug from her local oncologist for the rest of her life to manage the symptoms of the carcinoid cancer, but if everything goes as planned, the major medical procedures for cancer are behind her now. We're all looking forward to the next 20 or 30 years with Ruth.
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| Ruth with Boom Boom the Maine Coon |
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