It's been a while since I've done a "Mom Update." I believe the last one was in October, when she had her parathyroid removed. Not a WHOLE lot has changed since then, but a few new things have developed...
A few months ago my mom's high blood pressure returned, so she was put back on high blood pressure meds and it is pretty much back to normal.
She also had some x-rays done on her bones. The x-rays showed that some of her bone mass and density was further deteriorating, especially in her hips. So her endocrinologist put her on a calcium supplement, and also a new medication called Reclast, which is specifically for patients with osteoporosis. It helps to protect the bones from deteriorating or growing any more brittle. Previously, she was on Actonel for this, but after seeing the newest x-rays, the endo thought it wasn't strong enough.
Reclast is a very interesting drug. It is given through an IV once a year, and helps increase bone density as well as protecting and strengthening the bones. Because it is given as an IV injection rather than in pill form, it is able to bind directly to the bones to provide year-long protection from fractures, which is something that is not provided by medication taken in pill form. So that was pretty cool...she went in, sat down in a comfy chair, the nurse put in the IV and pushed the medication, and 15 minutes later she walked out of the center with Reclast in her system, good to go for a whole year.
However, the two most recent developments are anything but simple and worry-free. The only upside is that they are not causing her any physical pain or discomfort.
This is what we found out on Thursday (the 22nd): It was discovered through an ultrasound that my mom has an abdominal aortic aneurysm. Basically, this is an aneurysm in the aortic vein that is in her stomach (the vein that carries the blood to the heart). An aneurysm occurs when the lining of the aorta is damaged. It can also be caused by a weakening of the aorta due to factors that run in families (eek!). The aneurysm occurs when the weakened artery stretches outward, expanding like a balloon. That bulge is the actual aneurysm. As it expands, the artery wall becomes thinner and weaken even more. Things like high blood pressure can cause further strain on the artery wall, which can cause it to become so thin that it ruptures (e.g., leaks, bursts, or tears open). This is fatal if not treated right away.
So what to do? Well, if my mom was a relatively young and healthy person without the 101+ health conditions that she has (esp. having only one kidney and heart problems), the surgeon said he would just go in and repair the aneurysm. But because of her numerous health issues, the surgeon said he did not want to go in and operate to repair the aneurysm until it became VERY necessary. VERY necessary means that it grows close to 6cm around. Right now it is 4.9 x 4.6cm. So she is going to get ultrasounds every 4 months to keep an eye on it, and if continues to enlarge, she will need to have the operation. It is a fairly risky one for someone in her condition, so that is why he wants to wait until it is absolutely necessary. I want her to get ultrasounds every month or so! But the doctor doesn't seem to think she needs to have them that often. I hope he's right, because if it bursts, there's only a 10% survival rate, and if she gets to the hospital on time, it's still less than 50%.
But that's not all...
Yesterday (Friday the 23rd) we found out that a sonogram revealed several cysts on each of my mom's ovaries and a mass in the middle of her uterus. Because she is post-menopausal, she should NOT have cysts on her ovaries, as her body is no longer producing eggs. And the mass in her uterus is very suspicious. The doctor couldn't quite see from the x-ray images exactly where or what it was. He said that these cysts could be non-cancerous fibroids or they could be cancerous in nature, but this is not able to be known by just looking at an x-ray.
The best solution for finding out what these masses are is for the surgeon to remove both of her ovaries and go in with a medical telescope to look at the mass in her uterus. The procedures are called Hysteroscopy D&C and Laparoscopic Removal of the Bilateral Tubes and Ovaries. They Hysteroscopy involves the surgeon going into and expanding/enlarging the entrance of the uterus so that a thin, sharp instrument can scrape or suction away the lining of the uterus and take tissue samples that will be sent to the lab and tested for cancerous cells. The doctor will also be looking for that mass. He said that it would be better for him to not find anything...if that is the case, it would most likely be in the muscle tissue, which I guess is okay. Not exactly sure...it was all very confusing.
The ovary removal is pretty much self-explanatory...the surgeon will go in and remove both fallopian tubes and ovaries. Of course the cysts will be taken out, as they are on the ovaries. Those will also be sent off to the lab to be tested for cancerous cells. In this operation, the surgeon goes in through the belly button so as to minimize scarring...how weird is that? Then small incisions are made and everything is removed.
Both procedures can be done in one surgery and fortunately, it is a very low-risk procedure. It's a same-day surgery...my mom will go in, be put under, the operation will be performed, after all is finished she will go into the recovery area until she wakes up, and will be able to go home that day. She will be tired and sore for a few days following, but will not need to be on bed rest. She'll just need to take it easy and not strain herself or overdo anything for the first few days after the surgery. So that is actually the "easy" part, considering it is pretty low-risk. The hard and scary part for us will be waiting to find out if any of the cysts are cancerous. The wait is 7 to 10 days. The surgery will be on June 23rd.
That's all the news I have for now. The operation is a month away, but what's even worse is the constant waiting game of wondering if the aneurysm is growing and if it will burst before each ultrasound. I feel like it's a ticking time-bomb inside of her, waiting to go off without us knowing if or when it will. And I'm very nervous about the surgery, because it's not nearly as risk-free as the ovarian and uterine ones.
I'll keep you all updated as I get more news. Thanks for reading if you got this far.
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