Life Unafraid - Metastatic Cholangiocarcinoma

Back at UCLA - June 29th 2012

So I just heard from Chris that my mom was just admitted; the doctors don't want to take any chances and she is getting the permanent stint put in tomorrow. I will post more when I know. -Mike

Mom is home but more work to do - June 29th 2012

My mom went home which is a blessing that Gavin gets to see her on his birthday party. Today she will be heading up to UCLA to review blood work and next Friday will be the permanent stint replacement in the bile duct. With love, Mike.

Update - June 26th 2012

It's Lori here again with some good news to report from UCLA!

Yolanda's creatinine dropped again this morning to 3.5! Down from 4 and definitely moving in the right direction. I was with her when the Internal Medicine team did rounds and they are "very pleased" with the way her kidney is responding. She got more blood last night and her Hemoglobin is back up...but she's still feeling pretty tired. The IV antibiotics are giving her some painful cramps and tummy trouble and that means she isn't eating as much as she needs to, but she's trying! She's still got a cough that wakes her and it's painful trying to clear her chest, but they've assured her the pneumonia isn't bad and are looking into other meds that might help her expectorate.

One of the oncologists revisited the question about her stent and whether or not it should be replaced before she goes home because her bilirubin is now elevated. Yolanda's waiting to hear what they recommend.

Sooo...it looks like she will be going home tomorrow with a course of oral antibiotics. She would likely visit the oncologist in clinic on Monday and perhaps get right back on her chemo schedule later next week.

Keep up the good work, Kidney!! Don't make trouble, Liver! Calm down, Tummy! And keep up the fluids, Yolanda! We're comin' for you, Cancer.

Update from Mike within Lori's update: GI doctor coming tomorrow to see my mom, so she may not be headed home soon.

More details - June 25th 2012

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Update - June 25th 2012

Good news. Creatinine is down from 4.1 to 4.0 ..... Kidney is slowly but steadily recovering. Blood is down heading towards another transfusion and I can't wait to get one as I am low low on energy. It might be down because of the heparin bleeding and or fruits draining. I'm still bloated. And retaining liquids ....about 17 lbs as of yesterday but lay night I pee Ed a lot! So this guys take on the situation is the scenario is not quite normal for the liver sickness to be causing the kidney failure .... He believes there are multiple factors and things are improving ....how's that for some hope? We shall see what wisdom the liver docs bring to the situation today. I am re- reviewing my records before they get here in case they don't have time. Let's pray this day keeps getting better and better shall we?

Busy day - June 25th 2012

No news yet as we are waiting on labs to come back. I woke up early bleeding from the stomach where I've been getting the heparin shots, scary ! So I just stayed up. Feeling great and also tired but very little pain! Yay! Busy day with all the experts checking in and exciting.  My blood pressure is a tad high but I am thinking its because I am physically anxious and on no Meds at the moment. I want to be clear headed when talking to the oncologist, md, GI and renal guy ...... My UCLA renal guy who is leaving for a conference who is going to 'try' and stop by before he goes. He is the only nephrologist here I trust because he has always proven to make good decisions on my behalf. We will see l can page him if needed. Check back for updates later today!

June 24th, Status Update ~ please comment with questions and I will respond!

Today’s update is neither better or worse than yesterdays. My creatinine is 4.1 now which is good, it went lower and lower is better! My prayer is that tomorrow it will be back at under 2 and maybe even  down to baseline of 1.2!  Either way I don’t think I will be able to have the same type of chemo treatment as we started which is a bummer but we are not there yet so not to fear.   The worse thing that can be causing the kidney function is something in the liver –that is hard to prove and the last thing we want but some doctors on the team feel it is the cause – based on what I do not know.  There are treatment options for this but they are not good….   It’s hard to say but it looks like we could be facing the worse possible outcome but not to fear; positive thinking, sincere request, prayers, faith, believe and God or your higher power, universe energy, whattever  is stronger  so whatever faith you have I ask that you keep it positive as you ever have and believe that I will  live through this and I KNOW everyone will be ok no matter what the outcome is because I do have FAITH.

My hemoglobin is now at 9.0 which is gone down from 10.2 . I also have low sodium which can mess with the heart so they put me on low-sodium diet and an IV drip of albumin which gets the fluids out of your body. I've got two doctors disAgreeing weather i should be on or off the fluid. They also disagree on whether to give me antibiotics for the residual pneumonia . This has all been worked out today and I am getting the sodium drip and some antibiotics. I already had my last dose of steroids and some other things I was on. And huge long story about birth control pills but that is also worked out and I will let you comment and ask any questions and I will respond to your comment asap….deal?

And still meeting with GI doc about scheduling stent replacement.  I would love to be home for Gavin's  6^th birthday party Saturday. Keep the faith!!!! :-)

More difficulties - June 23rd 2012

I am now at UCLA west kidney center. As Michael said we need to get kidney working before proceeding with cancer treatment. The type of rejection I have is very minor and clears up quickly. Unfortunately, my creatine jumped to 4.3 today. This doctor also thinks I still may be having some pneumonia. Due to what he hears in my lungs and I think I have a bladder infection. Easily treatable with the right antibiotics ....he is going to treat me for these things. He also wants the permanent stent replaced ASAP so he is putting in an order to get that done here and to get the GI doc involved STAT. All this being said they can't say for sure what the cause is but he is sure rejection is part of it. There could also be someone cancer wise going on in the liver that is a contributing factor. He is worried about how fast my kidney function is being reduced but said for me not to worry about the prognosis yet. He said if the numbers won't look good tomorrow we will have some decisions to make (like starting dialysis treatment). So today, like everyday, I am expecting Better news tomorrow and healing through out today!!!

More details - June 22nd 2012

Talked with my mom today. Apparently her kidney is having an episode of failure due to everything going on. It's not permanently failing, just one step back and two forward. Chemo has been put on hold until her kidney is functioning up to par. The doctors are putting her on steroids to give the kidney a jump start. She's still in the hospital but might be transferred to the other building. She's open for visits! I saw her last night, and may see her again tomorrow. With love, Mike.

Update - June 22nd 2012

Biopsy was performed successfully. Creatinine was actually 3.8 when I came to the hospital. I am at the UCLA Santa Monica campus in the oncology center. they wish to move me to the renal transplant higher in the live in the Wilshire facility, but there's no bed available. Regardless creatinine is at 3.1 now which is good because all numbers are headed in in the right direction I'm going to be tested again tomorrow morning and we'll see where we stand. We have to figure out while my kidney is not working properly before we can move on with chemotherapy. Mike or I will post again since we have more information thank you very much for your continued support.