It saddens me to say that we lost Marian at 0840 this morning.
Marian had told the nurses that she wanted to speak to me early this morning so I got a call at 0530. I got through to Elgin by 0600 and then summoned my daughter & Marians mum. All 3 of us were with her when she passed away. Marian has suffered enormously for a long time and the pain that she has been in over the past few days has been excruciating. At least her suffering is now over.
It had been Marians intention to add lots of articles to this blog about how she was feeling and the emotions that she was dealing with while fighting this cancer, but alas that is no longer possible. Right now I'm having difficulty in seeing a future without her.
Rest in peace my angel xxx
Sunday, 25 July 2010
Friday, 23 July 2010
Back in hospital
Marian started to get some severe abdominal pains on Tue afternoon (20th Jul) and the GP had her admitted very quickly suspecting an intestinal blockage, but that turned out not to be the case. A CT scan on Thu 22nd Jul revealed that Marians pancreas is inflamed.
Apparently there is no clinical treatment for pancreatitis other than treating symptoms and pushing lots of fluids. This is made difficult with Marian because her veins are resisting IV access and even although the medical staff can get a cannula inserted, it just blocks up. So they are achieving some fluid input through a drip simply inserted under the skin.
The source of the inflamed pancreas was suspected to be that her cancer had spread, but the results of the scan do not show any additional tumours so they suspect that the inflammation is due to the extremely high doses and quantities of medication that Marian takes.
She is a little more comfortable but still in a lot of pain.
Apparently there is no clinical treatment for pancreatitis other than treating symptoms and pushing lots of fluids. This is made difficult with Marian because her veins are resisting IV access and even although the medical staff can get a cannula inserted, it just blocks up. So they are achieving some fluid input through a drip simply inserted under the skin.
The source of the inflamed pancreas was suspected to be that her cancer had spread, but the results of the scan do not show any additional tumours so they suspect that the inflammation is due to the extremely high doses and quantities of medication that Marian takes.
She is a little more comfortable but still in a lot of pain.
Friday, 16 July 2010
Really bad news
Marian had her x-ray on Wed and we went to see the Oncologist today.
The cancer has resisted chemo & radiotherapy even though the chemo was the favoured combination for Sarcoma and the radiotherapy was an extremely high dose. It transpires that the majority of MPNSTs (in adults) do not respond positively to any of the cancer treatments currently available.
Marian will continue to be seen by the Oncologists fortnightly, but from here on in its palliative care only !
To say we are devastated doesn't even come close. Marian is determined to not give in without a fight though. We are all very proud of her.
The cancer has resisted chemo & radiotherapy even though the chemo was the favoured combination for Sarcoma and the radiotherapy was an extremely high dose. It transpires that the majority of MPNSTs (in adults) do not respond positively to any of the cancer treatments currently available.
Marian will continue to be seen by the Oncologists fortnightly, but from here on in its palliative care only !
To say we are devastated doesn't even come close. Marian is determined to not give in without a fight though. We are all very proud of her.
Thursday, 15 July 2010
White Egret Orchid
Marian is very proud that she managed to grow a White Egret Orchid from seed. There were 4 originally, but only 2 developed into plants. Unfortunately one of them just decided one day to dry up so then there was one !
Monday, 12 July 2010
And now some gardening
Felt like a bit of gardening today. Might as well do these things while I have the energy. Thank you to all the people that have been keeping my plants alive in the greenhouse since I was first admitted to hospital.
They have all been potted up or put into planters now and have them sitting under the front window. Butch was never too far away, wanting to investigate underneath everything I moved. He really does like chasing spiders and all sorts of other creepy crawlies; daft dog !
Felt like a bit of baking
Its been absolutely ages since I baked anything and having a bit of a sweet tooth, well a lot of a sweet tooth, I decided to do some baking while I had a bit of energy.
A recipe for Blondies caught my eye in the Peoples Friend recently so I decided to give them a go yesterday.
A recipe for Blondies caught my eye in the Peoples Friend recently so I decided to give them a go yesterday.
Saturday, 10 July 2010
What we know so far
Diagnosed with Metastatic Sarcoma (MPNST)
I have a Soft Tissue Spindle Cell Sarcoma (21 May 10). On first admission Dr Bissett (ARI) confirmed that this was in fact a Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumour (MPNST). Basically this is a Neurofibromatosis tumour that has turned malignant. The MPNST is on my chest wall and has metatastasised (spread) to my lungs.
First attempt at chemo with Doxorubicin & Ifosfamide didnt work.
Since had 5 'fractions' of Radiotherapy, now waiting to see what effect that had.
Primary MPNST is a staggering 10cm. Not sure how many lung tumours I have but they have been described as 'several' and are 1-2cm.
I have a Soft Tissue Spindle Cell Sarcoma (21 May 10). On first admission Dr Bissett (ARI) confirmed that this was in fact a Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumour (MPNST). Basically this is a Neurofibromatosis tumour that has turned malignant. The MPNST is on my chest wall and has metatastasised (spread) to my lungs.
First attempt at chemo with Doxorubicin & Ifosfamide didnt work.
Since had 5 'fractions' of Radiotherapy, now waiting to see what effect that had.
Primary MPNST is a staggering 10cm. Not sure how many lung tumours I have but they have been described as 'several' and are 1-2cm.
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