Newest Plan of Action

We have now been visited by multiple doctors and the plan has been established for the next 36 hours or so. The doctors are happy with her pain management so far. Mom's pain is significantly better than it was on the pain patch last week so we all agree that we are on to something good here. This early evening they are going to discontinue the IV medication that she is currently on and switch her over to a similar acting pain cocktail that comes in liquid form. If she can tolerate the medication and her pain is managed then that will be the medication that she continues at home. If not, they will be sending her home with the IV medication that she is currently on (since they know it works) and it will come in a fanny pack. Although it works well right now, mom wants to avoid that option because she said, "Nothing says 'Check Me Out' like an oxygen tank and a fanny pack."

The idea of doing the rib pain block has been put on hold for now because the doctor does not think that the risk (minor as it is) would be worth it right now if the new pain medications are significantly helping. He has gone ahead and reserved a spot for the procedure tomorrow at 3:00 PM just in case the plan changes. He explained that the pain block procedure is something that can be done as out patient surgery so it could be planned in the future if the pain is hard to manage again.

One thing that we failed to talk about in the blog yesterday is that Dr. Eaton , mom's Oncologist, has halted chemotherapy treatments at this time. Although her scan results came back "stable" with very minimal change, if any, he is concerned that she is too sick to undergo any other treatments at this time. His one and only goal at this time is to manage the pain. If things begin to improve and her strength and energy increase then we may discuss the idea of returning to chemotherapy in the future.

Thanks again for your care and concern for mom. I will continue to post updates to the blog as things change.

Angie