She is ready to let go, no more visitors...

She is in so much pain and has verbalized that it is torture. She is asking for help to pass on. All we can do is give her more drugs to try to take the pain away so that she can let go. Her body is in a state of terminal restlessness. My brothers and I are with her and even though her mind is ready, her body is not. Hopefully she will relax enough and go home peacefully. Thank you for prayers and God bless.

Hospice at Home and Care Calender

Hello All. Cindy is home now. She was brought to house yesterday. While a hospice nurse will be there at all times, a friend or family member must be present too. Many people have asked what they can do to help, we have set up a care calendar. We a...sk that you sign up for a amount of time to sit with Cindy. The Link to the website is http://carecalendar.org/logon/111140 The Calendar ID: 111140 and the Security Code is: 4483 All further details are on the care calendar. Thank you for your love, prayers, and support. The Hudson KidsSee More

CareCalendar - Filling the needs

carecalendar.org

Web based system to organize meals and other help for families during a time of illness or life changing event, such as the birth of a baby or death of a family member

Hospice and Mom are at the house.

So mom is home and mostly resting. Hospice is here at the house and she is in a hospital bed that they brought in and is receiving oxygen. We are trying to get ahead of the pain, but hospice is slowly increasing the dosages of her pain meds. She still has swelling but it has gone down. We encourage all visitors to come to the house. There is nothing else we can do except be near her and pray. It is a very difficult time and there is tension in the family. Everyone's emotion are raw and it is hard to express ourselves. Anyway, call or come visit. We appreciate all your prayers and support.

God bless.

-Nessa

Advice

Haas Blaag: Advice From Haas: 1. If you love someone make sure they know it 2. Don't take things for granted 3. Live your life to the fullest 4. Enjoy the great da...

Mom is in room 888 on the 8th floor at Methodist hospital.

Still in ICU and trying to get a room, trying to get her home.

Please visit her at Methodist. She is in ICU still but should move to oncology in the morning. 8th floor is oncology. She will be able to have visitors at any time and we appreciate it and accept it. Please show your love. It is one thing to write it, it is another to show it. I know that everyone can't because of travel, distance, personal issues and what not. I know and appreciate your love, but if you want my mom to know please come and let her see your face and feel it herself. Even if it is for a minute. She will then know for herself. The most I can express is my own true love for my mother. I cannot express the love of others. I, my mom, and my family appreciate your love and support. Thank you all and God bless.

-Vanessa L. Hudson

Mom is in ICU and in a lot of pain. Surgery was not able to be performed.

Surgery was unsuccessful. Mom is in ICU at methodist hospital. The doctor had opened her up to see if they could do the procedure and what he saw was that her lung was completely encased by tumors. She is in ICU and trying to heal as much as possible. Our hope is to be able to take her home by end of weekend so that we can all be there together with her and she can be as comfortable as possible at... home. She is in a lot of pain constantly and she is unable to talk most the time. She is on pain meds and antibiotics. It is really hard to see her like this. I just want her wishes to be carried out and if anyone needs to make peace with her please contact to make arrangements. I don't want to lose her. This is so difficult. She is loved and God is with her!

 

Room 787 on 7th floor of Methodist Hospital. Visiting hours are 10-2, 4-7, and 9-11pm. Thank you all.

 

-Vanessa

Decortication

Decortication
In thoracic surgery, decortication refers to a surgical procedure done to free a fibrous capsule that has formed around the lung, secondary to an inflammatory process, such as an infection. Ordinarily there is a potential space between the lung and the inside of the chest wall, with this space "lubricated" by a thin layer of fluid. In some conditions, such as pneumonia, or after an episode of bleeding in the chest, this space can fill with fluid which can eventually solidify and form a capsule around the lung. As the capsule grows, it can entrap the lung and cause problems with breathing. In a decortication operation, the surgeon works to remove this capsule and free the lung so that it can function normally.

The pleural lining surrounding an internal organ is either partially removed with the removal or several layers, or in some cases completely removed, depending on the severity of the condition being treated. The procedure can be performed on many of the major organs, such as the heart, liver, brain, although a majority of the time it’s performed on the lungs. There are a handful of conditions that can be successfully treated with decortication.

How Decortication Can Help With Many Different Conditions

Through decortication excess (infected) fluid that has accumulated in the pleura lining of an organ is removed. This is fluid that when left untouched can build up to cause severe pain and discomfort, and when infected can cause severe illness and possibly death if left untreated. When dealing with fluid that isn’t infected decortication is used for relief rather than a cure. There are many illnesses that can cause fluid buildup in organs and while removing the fluid through decortication likely won’t completely solve the problem it will relieve most of the pain associated with the condition. When dealing with infected fluid decortication is a very effect cure, as the fluid buildup is caused by the infection itself; remove the infection and fluid accumulation will in most cases cease.

Is Decortication Safe and Effective?

Decortication is a procedure that holds a very low mortality rate; only 1-2% of patients die during, or due to decortication (the chances being much lower if you’re being seen by an experience surgeon). About 90% of patients see improvement of their symptoms and the most common side-effect, prolonged air leaks, only occurs in one of ten patients.

The Procedure – A Closer Look

Thanks to modern technology decortication is usually a very simple procedure. The procedure differs very little when done on different organs. Open decortication is not recommended unless absolutely necessary – it can cause significantly more scarring and possible complications.

Lung Decoritcation Surgery

1. The patient is laid out horizontally and sedated through the use of anesthesia. Once the patient is completely unconscious the surgeon makes a small posterolateral thoracotomy incision (incision made on one side of the chest used to enter the chest wall) about 2-4 centimeters long. An index finger is used to enter the incision to fully inspect and asses the severity of the present infection.
2. A Thoracoport is inserted and attached to a camera and TV – this will act as the surgeon’s “eyes” during the surgery, allowing the surgeon to perform the surgery without making any large incisions.
3. Fibrous deposits on the Lung and chest wall are removed through the use of a suction device. A second Thoracoport is inserted to prevent the lung from attaching itself to the chest wall while the suction device is used. Deposits that cannot be removed with the suction device are removed using medical forceps. Completely removing fluid from the costo-phrenic sulcus is stressed to prevent any kind of future immobility. When the lung is fully dethatched from the chest wall the surgeon can proceed to the next step.
4. A third Thoracoport incision is made, which will also serve as a forcep entry. This incision is identical to the first. A dissection planeis created between the lungs and tissue surrounding the lungs – the layer surrounding the lungs is fully dissected and separated from the lung. Forceps are then used to remove the dissected tissue. This process of steps 3 and 4 continue for 1-4 hours as the lung is completely decorticated and the pleural peel is completely removed.
5. When the entire pleural lining is removed two chest tubes are inserted through two of the Thoracoport incisions. The operated cavity is then rinsed with a Salt solution to ensure sterility and the operated lung is inflated to end the surgery.

Post-Decortication Recovery

Most patients can expect to stay in the hospital for several days, up to a week, after surgery to assist in recovery and ensure no serious complications arise. The first few days after surgery the chest wall usually continues to lose a little blood and there’s also the possibility of air leaks occurring during the first week after surgery. After about a week or so patients can safely go home where they’re expected to rest for another 3-4 weeks while the operated areas fully heal; if the decortication was performed on a lung deep breathing exercises are recommended to help strengthen the muscles as well as promote flexibility. It’s very important to avoid physical activities during the first 2 months of recovery. Any kind of blow dealt to the chest area could potentially open partially-healed wounds inside.

In Cancer:

A procedure involving lung decortication is usually recommended when the patient’s lung is not able to fully expand due to the collapsed tissue that encases the lung. This causes breathing problems and often pain. It is also a procedure that is used to clear away malignant tissue, if the disease has set in around the lungs. To reduce the risk of lung damage, this operation has to be performed with extreme care. In addition to clearing away the tissue, the surgeon also has to locate and drain any fluid or pus that has accumulated. A successful decortications of the lung can yield a beneficial sigh of relief for the patient, but not all people are considered good candidates for this procedure. It is up to the surgeon to determine if the operation should be performed on an individual.

Surgery in the morning

So surgery is tomorrow. They will take her in at about 10am and the surgery is at about 11. It will take time and it is a high risk and invasive procedure. It should go well and she will be moved to ICU after. Hopefully this will eleviate her pain and help her to be more comfortable. Thank you all.

Major surgery is scheduled for monday morning... It is a serious concern, but I believe in her strength

okay well mom has been moved to the oncology floor at Methodist hospital (8th floor). She has been having trouble breathing and the fluid in the pleural space has basically congealed in a way to where it is not draining and thus building and pushing on the right lung. The thoracic dr and pulmonologist have conferred and decided to perform a major surgery on the pleural lining. It is called decortication. It is very serious and we all have to keep positive and maintain our faith in the Lord. I will write more tomorrow. God bless and continued prayers.

Moved to oncology floor

Mom is still in hospital. They were going to let her come home last night but then after looking at chest x-ray the doctor saw that there were fluid pockets in the pleural lining that were crushing the right lung and making it difficult to breathe. They discussed repositioning the pleural drain but instead performed another thoracentesis. She will see a pulmonologist this morning. Other than that she is okay and really just wants to come home. They have moved her to the oncology floor because she may wind up staying through next week and receive her chemo treatment there. She may also get another blood transfusion cuz her red blood count is low. Will update more later.

Still recovering, but with some difficulty breathing

Mom will be in hospital through weekend most likely. She is getting oxygen now because it is really difficult to breathe and of course she still has the pleural drain in her back and the infection in her leg is going down, but will take time to heal. She is in a lot of pain and so with IV fluids and IV antibiotics she is now getting IV pain medicine. Continued prayers. Her will is strong and she is antsy to get out of the hospital, but it is good that she is under observation and getting fluids. Thank you all.

Recovery

Mom is healling nicely, but last night they did give her another blood transfusion. Hopefully she will be feeling much better and going home this weekend. It was good that she went to hospital when she did because this infection (tho bad enough) could've been worse. It is still draining and the swelling is gone and looks like it is lessening. She is getting pumped full of antibiotics and though she's uncomfortable, she is doing much better!!! Thank you all!

Surgery went well.

MOm was only in surgery for about 30 minutes but it took a while because of the anesthesia. She is doing well and is resting tonight. She has had some visitors which has been really great for her. She is uncomfortable, but doing much better. Thank you all!! She will most likely be at hospital all week to monitor the healing infection. We get the culture results tomorrow and she will be evaluated again in the morning. Here is to hoping that everything heals well and the way its supposed to!

Surgery at Methodist today.

Unfortunately, mom will have to undergo the surgery on her leg. They will cut her leg open to see how it looks and what is going on inside. They may just be able to drain it, but they may be cutting out the infection from her leg. This is really scary because we don't know what is going on inside her leg with the infection. She is in room 304 at methodist hospital, but surgery is scheduled at 4:30. She is scared, we all are. She will come out of the surgery and be groggy as she will be out. Hopefully her body will recover nicely from it and the infection will dissipate and heal. Continued prayers and faith always!!!

Gonna be at Methodist for the week....

Well mom has a staff infection and they are trying to control it. Her infection has spread in the leg a bit more, but the swelling has gone down some. They are using a heating pad to try to get the infection to localize to one area so that it will stop spreading. If the antibiotics don't kick in and start reducing the infection by tomorrow then the doctor will lacerate her leg and try to relieve t...he infection. We'll see what happens. She is still at Methodist in the medical center and getting IV antibiotics twice a day. She is okay, but will not be working this week downtown. Her immune system is week so it will take longer for her to heal than most people would with an infection. We are not really sure how she got it, but she's been in and out of dr's offices, giving lots of blood, and getting injections, fluids all kinds of things. It could've been a small scractch, abrasion, anything. Anyway, she will get better, but it will take some time. Thank you and God bless.
-Nessa

Doing okay, but at Methodist hospital for an infection

Okay well today mom went to the ER because she has been having fever and she has an infection in the skin in her right leg. They took a CT Scan of her leg and abdomen and the great news is that there are no new tumors and the infection is just that, an infection. Its an infection like strep that will take a couple days to go away. It most likely started from a small abrasion or tiny cut that never... would have been noticed. The doctor says the reason the infection became so bad is becuase her immune system is compromised the way it is. She did receive antibiotics already and is getting fluids. She has now been admitted and will stay at Methodist in the medical center for a couple days under observation and to just keep an eye on the swelling and make sure it goes down. At first when she arrived they notified a surgeon just in case they needed to do surgery. The hope is that becuase antibiotics were administered early enough that it will fight the infection and she will be just fine. She is doing well tonight and is resting. She has her own room and is responding to text messages and email. Anyway, thank you all for your continued support, love, and prayers.

 

-Vanessa

Back at Methodist hospital for the night because of an infection.

Well, unfortunately mom is in the hospital again. She is resting. She called the on call oncologist at the START center because she had a bump on the back of her leg and overnight it seemed to enlarge quite a bit. The oncologist said to go ahead and go to the ER at Methodist in the Medical Center. She is there now and is resting and getting fluids and antibiotics. They did a scan of her leg and it shows that it is an infection of some sort. Anyway, the antibiotics are necessary and will help. She is going to be admitted again for observation of the infection. She will be alright tonight, but we are waiting for her to get a room. God bless you all and thank you.

Buzzed head and wigs!

This week Mom buzzed her head and is looking like a young Sinead O'conner! I love it!! She looks really cute and the wig she wears is a nice cut! I really like it. Anyway, she is doing okay. The chemotherapy has many side effects and she is feeling the fatigue pretty strongly. She is still making out downtown to work and doing what she can!So mom has been having fun with her buzzed head and wearing the wigs this week.

On wednesday, she was leaving the courthouse and though always being fatigued, she became very hot and pulled the wig off her head and strutted her stuff very proudly down the courthouse steps! (I think it was a fun moment for her to let it all out!). She is resting this weekend and did have fever again last night. We think the tumor fever may be back. Its been a difficult journey, but we continue to take it one day at a time. I pray that we all find peace on earth and forgiveness in our hearts. Thank you all!

-Vanessa

Easter was good, mom is okay... but new treatment side effects are kicking in

Easter mom and John and Darinka went to church which was really nice. After that I met them for brunch and we ate at the Egg and I. It was good and of course it was a beautiful day!! Mom went home and spent the remainder of the day resting. Her second round of chemo IV infusion was last wednesday and so now the side effects are kicking in. This round of chemo is Taxol (taxotere) and Carboplatin combined. It is extremely fatiguing to the body and her hair has officially come out and so on monday she buzzed the rest of it. I think she looks really cute like a young Sinead O'Conner. She is still working half days and resting at home in the afternoons.

Tomorrow we have a doctors appointment where she will get IV fluids with iron and some medicine that helps red blood cells (I forgot the name). Anyway, this is to prevent her from having another blood transfusion. We will also be scheduling her biopsy of the lymph node that is kinda protruding from her neck. The biopsy will confirm what is going on with her lymphatic system and see if the cancer has moved there or not officially.

She is well, but she is really tired. Please contact me if you need to get a hold of her and are not able to get through. She hasn't really been answering her phone much. Thats okay though. Anyhoo, well good luck and God bless!!!

-Vanessa

Its hard keeping up with everything that needs to be done...

I apologize for my delay in posting over the last month... Other than my mom going through cancer, I am having other difficulties in my life. I understand that it is my responsibility to be here and help (which I do), but I have lacked a bit in giving updates. I hope that all our readers can appreciate that it is difficult and I am doing what I can. It is easier to update on facebook, so those of you who have a facebook account you can like our Cindy Sue Hudson's Cancer Fighters page. I will post here weekly until things settle down in my life a bit more. I am trying to get situated and move back in with mom (as my marriage has failed), I am also in school again taking my prereqs for nursing school, I have started a wonderful part time job, and am still taking care of mom and helping her with her work and everything else.

Mom is doing well this weekend and we hope to have a great Easter Sunday! God bless!

-Vanessa

Treatment 5, round 2 of intravenous chemo was a tough start for the week

Well last week we were in the hospital for fluids because of dehydration and this week we wound up in the hospital for blood transfusion.

Mom is doing much better, but wednesday was really tough. Its been an emotional rollercoaster and we all have frustrations in fighting this cancer. Its just really difficult knowing that mom is in pain and is uncomfortable all the time.

Anyway, wednesday I picked up mom and drove her to the START center for IV chemo treatment of carboplatin and taxol. It takes time to get set up and started with the chemo treatment and they do bloodwork first to check her vitals. Well, her vitals came back and showed her hemoglobin was really really low. Since her red blood count was so low we were informed that she needed a blood transfusion. She's never had one and it was a little scary to think about, but we had to get through the chemo treatment for the day.
Mom was feeling pretty bad and was hurting and weak. They hooked her up for chemo, but the iv drip was too fast and mom wound up having an allergic reaction. Her blood pressure and oxygen dropped and her heartrate rose very high. She became flushed and dizzy and couldn't breathe. She began to crash from anaphylactic shock. My older brother was by her when it happened and it was certainly hard to see her go through it. The nurses immediately stopped the chemo drip and gave her intravenous benadryl. Her body was able to recover and we waited to try the chemo again when she stabilized. The benadryl knocked her out pretty good and she was able to sleep after that. After a while they started the chemo drip again, but at a slower pace and she was good. We were there all day long and I think we finished at the START center around 6:30/7pm. From there we left and headed over to the Methodist hospital off Medical drive to get her admitted for the blood transfusion.

We were on the first floor in the Clinical transition Unit and we had a comfortable nook for her lie in and they drew more blood to match for the transfusion. Its a very interesting process and I wish I could've given my blood, but my mom is A positive and my blood is A negative. She wouldn't have been able to use it. I will still donate, but I've been pretty exhausted and busy the last couple weeks. Just a lot going on.

Anyway, they didn't start the transfusion till around 10pm and we were done around 5:30am, but we were able to leave around 6am. We stopped for breakfast tacos and then went home. I tried to nap for a little while, but I was unsuccessful. Its been a long day, but I hope to get a lot done this weekend. There's just so much to do and not enough time or help.

Please if anyone has any questions don't hesitate to email or respond. I do put up more updates on the facebook page, but I know not everyone has a facebook.

Thank you all again for your love and support!

-Vanessa Hudson