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

The San Antonio Ladies Empowering Group on Friday Night!!!

Hope to see you there!
Friday, March 30, 2012
7:00pm until 10:00pm
Al Bustan Mediterrenian Resturant, 4841 Fredricksburg Rd San Antonio, TX 78229 (210) 525-1231

Start of the week was in the hospital, but everything is good and mom is okay!!!

So mom was doing alright over the weekend after getting fluids last week, but was really fatigued and feeling weak. Then on Sunday she was having difficulty breathing and was having pain. We called the on call doctor at the START center and they told us to go ahead and go to the Methodist hospital ER. They also called ahead and let them know we were coming. The difficulty breathing was brought on by fluid building up again around the lung. When we arrived they brought us to the back and put us in a room where mom was able to get IV fluids, be put on oxygen, an ekg was done, and x-rays were done. The consensus was that the fluid needed to be drained, but being that it was a Sunday night in the ER they wanted to go ahead and admit mom for the night so that she could easily have the procedure done the next day. Monday morning, our oncologist confered with the hospital and it was decided that not only would the fluid be drained but an outpatient surgery where they install a pleural tap (a tube that is inserted through the back in the pleural space outside the lung). This pleural tap will provide a constant drain for the fluid being produced so that it won't build up and crush the lung. She is feeling sore and it is uncomfortable, but it has helped her to be able breathe easier. They kept her overnight on monday again for observation. She was released tuesday morning and then she was off downtown to work that afternoon. She is strong and continues to fight.

Please if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.

God bless and good night!

-Vanessa

Dehydration is a major issue, here's why...

So, last wednesday (the 14th) mom started chemotherapy again because the trial drugs just haven't been working. Her cancer has grown in her lungs and all the medications she had been taking were affecting her liver. Her liver is okay though. Its just been working really hard to process all the medications. She is very dehydrated, and so the doctor has ordered her to get fluids every couple days when she feels up to it. Her vitals also show that she is malnutritioned- low albumin levels (when they test for albumin levels in your blood, they are checking your protein levels in the blood plasma that are water soluble).

*Dehyrdation: "The two types of dehydration, chronic dehydration and acute dehydration, can be caused by many things. The most common are: flu, vomiting, diarrhea, blood loss, malnutrition, and plain old failure to replenish liquids lost from sweating and urination (Not drinking enough water). Many illnesses and diseases can trigger acute dehydration due to the increased body temperature and sweating that usually occur. This is why your doctor tells you to drink plenty of fluids when you are ill. Your body uses fluids to expel toxins as well as to keep your system flexible, lubricated and running smoothly. Dehydration and blood pressure problems often go hand in hand due to the loss of electrolytes.

If the dehydration is allowed to continue unabated (without reduction in strength or intensity), when the total fluid loss reaches 5% the following effects of dehydration are normally experienced:

• Increased heart rate
• Increased respiration
• Decreased sweating
• Decreased urination
• Increased body temperature
• Extreme fatigue
• Muscle cramps
• Headaches
• Nausea
• Tingling of the limbs

(information from http://www.symptomsofdehydration.com/ )"-all legit information.

Let it be known that mom has been experiencing all of these side effects. This morning I picked her up and drove her to START so that she could get IV (intravenous) fluids to help rehydrate her. Every time we arrive the first thing the nurses do is take blood to check her vitals and they get her blood pressure, heart rate, and O2 (oxygen) levels. Her heart rate was at 181. This is an extremely high heart rate for someone who isn't at the gym and doing an extremely hard cardio workout. To give you an idea of what this means I will explain maximum heart rate:
Maximum heart rate is the highest heart rate an individual can safely acheive through exercise. Maximum heart rate depends on a persons age. To find your maximum heart rate subtract your age from 220; e.g. 220 - 39 = a maximum heart rate of 181 for a person age 39.
Mom is 56, so you can see that 181 is way too high of a heart rate for her age as well as the fact that she was in a state of rest and has been very weak. Needless to say, the nurses gave her a liter of fluids and that really helped. Her heart rate lowered and when we left they checked her again and her HR (heart rate) was at 108. 108 is not ideal, but it is A LOT better. They only gave 1 liter of fluids because really when you are trying to hydrate a person, you don't want to give more than that as the person will just pee it out. That is why 1 liter a day or every other day is good as it will slowly absorb into her organs. If we were trying to flush her liver or get something out of her system then the nurses would give more than that and then the goal would be to pee it out. So, we will go back tomorrow and get more fluids in the afternoon. She is feeling much better this evening and I will pick her up in the morning and take her to work. She's fighting this with all that she is!!!!
God bless her!!!

Thank you all.

-Vanessa

Walk, Run, Wag 5K by the Petco Foundation on April 1st

Mom and I will be walking this 5K on April 1st, 2012 (a sunday) at 8am. I encourage everyone and anyone who like to join us to come out. It is in support of local charities for animals. We are animal lovers and will be out there to help support and of course it will be wonderful to just be outside with mom and our German shepherd/lab doggie, Bathsheba.

The official website is www.walkrunwag.com
Walk or run a 5K or 1 Mile course with your dog, or without a dog. Register for either 5K or 1 mile. A portion of the proceeds from your registration will benefit local pet charities in the San Antonio area through the Petco Foundation.

Be sure to sign-up and receive your member DISCOUNT CODE for 20% off any registration through the website early!

Additional Date Information

5km & 5K9 Run/Walk - 8am
1MI & 1MI K9 - 9am

Address

PETCO Headquarters
654 Richland Hills Drive San Antonio, TX

Fees

5k9 & 5km-$39/ 1M K9 & 1M - $24

Enjoy and we hope to see you out there!

-Vanessa

Chemotherapy again - 5th line treatment.

Today I picked mom up and took her to the doctors for chemotherapy again. No more clinical trials right now because of the growth of the cancer and the pain she has been experiencing. We believe that because she did so well with the chemo last year, she will again have success with it. This time she is getting Carboplatin (she had it last time as well and worked) combined with Taxol (she has not tried this one and I will post info later). She did well today. They gave her pain medicine and she was a little loopy, but she seemed better today than she has in a couple days. The chemo does wear you down and she may loose all her hair now (they told her she would last year, but she didn't lose it all. It does fall out so it most likely will, but after chemo is out of her system, it will grow back!). I don't know how many rounds of it she will have to do and radiation may become a suggestion down the road for a few hot spots where most pain is, but for now we wait and see what happens. She will also experience nausea (which has already started) and a side effect of the Taxol is mouth sores. She may not be able to talk as much because of the dehydration and dryness, but her energy is up and she looked great this morning and of course she is still going everywhere in her high heels!!!!

-Vanessa

More obstacles this week, the most pain yet, but doctor is positive about finding a solution!

Hello everyone, I apologize first for the delay in posting. I have been having a problem with my laptop the last week and a half, besides helping mom in the current battle against her constant pain and frustration.

Today I picked up mom at the house at 7am and we made it to the Doctors for an 8am bloodwork. Mom has been in so much pain that it has been really difficult for her to get up and get ready. The pain is really taking a lot out of her. Perhaps part of the problem is finding a solution for managing the pain and trying to stay ahead of it rather than waiting for the pain to get so bad that she waits to take it.
When we made it to the doctors, the nurses saw how much pain she was in and even though our doctor appointment wasn't for another 2hours the doctor came out and ordered CT scans. She wasn't supposed to get the CT scans for a couple more weeks with the clinical trial she was on, but the amount of pain she was having suggests that the cancer has grown. We waited a few hours to get the scans and sure enough the cancer has grown rather aggressively. Fortunately it has not metasticized elsewhere though. So the cancer is not attacking any other organs or bone or brain! Though it has gotten bigger and is encroaching on the liver and rib. The doctor said no more of this trial drug and tomorrow I pick her up in the morning again to take her back to the doctors so that she can start conventional chemotherapy again. This time she is going to take a combination of carboplatin and taxol! Both are very good. She will have side effects, but as we have seen throughout this journey she is kicking cancers butt!!!

Anyway I am tired and will edit this post tomorrow. I haven't had much sleep in.... I couldn't even say. So, till tomorrow.. may everyone have a good night and keep your spirits up! God is with us and with my mom!!!

-Vanessa L. Hudson

Last weekend was the most difficul yet. 3/8/12

Friday night was okay with mom. We had a good night together talking and hanging out and spending time on the computer. Saturday, I was at house and was doing yard work while mom rested and was having pain and fever. Sunday, mom was not able to get out because the pain was becoming too much. It was hard to see her cry because of the pain. Monday, mom was not able to get up and go to work. It was very hard to see her so frustrated and hurting. I know she is sad and feeling awful. I know she is angry and depressed. There is no answer why, there is no answer of how this happened. Her cancer is the rarest of the rare and so is she is. She is fighting and has surpassed so much through all of this ordeal. She is amazing.
We went to the doctors on tuesday and we met with Dr. Rassco. He is a wonderful doctor at the START center and he informed us that "tumor fever" isn't necessarily good or bad because it is hard to determine what the cause is actually. He also noted the pain and suggested getting CT scans next week is a good idea see what is going on in her. She did receive fluids and was remarkably better on wednesday!!! She was able to get out and go downtown for work.
She is strong and stubborn! And determined to beat this!!!!

God bless!

-Vanessa Hudson

Hmmm....its friday night and this weather isn't helping..

Well, mom is resting after a long week of pulling through and getting downtown to help others. She is having this fever at night and it is now every night with night sweats and chills. Tonight she has started a cough. Its hard for her to sleep because she is in discomfort always. We see the doctor on tuesday and will find out what her vitals were from the blood draw this week and of course she will have more blood drawn and we will talk with the doctor about what this fever is. Mom wants to work tomorrow, but I feel that getting some rest will be good. We are planning on going to CBC on sunday to the 11am service. Continue with prayers. I'm hoping its just the weather....

Thank you

-Vanessa

Tumor Fever ... what is it? and does mom have it?

So we are in week 3 of the 4th treatment and the second clinical trial drug. Mom is probably taking 15 pills a day and that doesn't include the vitamins she should be taking (or the 7 that I want her to take anyway) and she definitely needs to hydrate more. Anyway, she's been having fever at night and last night it rose to 102.6. The fever is relatively new. It has been off and on, but it is now more frequent. Mom called the doctor this morning and he said it could be "tumor fever".

I am trying to research what "tumor fever" is and so far I'm not coming to a very conclusive discovery of what it is. I have discovered that it is difficult to diagnose because there are too many potential causes and it is hard to exclude them. Some of the potential causes include all the different meds she is taking and how they react with each other as well as individually their side effects alone could cause fever. Another possibility to include is the dehydration. Anyway, the point is that it may not actually be "tumor fever" and just a fever.

Now that I have said that, I will first explain the negative meaning of "tumor fever" and then I will give the good explanation, but try to keep in mind that it may not be "tumor fever" and know that mom is still getting up every day and continuing to stay strong and fight. She is in control of her life and this cancer is not controlling her. She will not succumb to it and she knows that God is with her and healing her too.

The bad:  'In solid malignancies, tumor fever is commonly associated with rapidly progressive metastatic disease and a limited survival. Liver metastases are present in many of these patients and some of them may display significant systemic inflammation. We report two unique patients with adenocarcinoma of the lung associated with tumor fever, necrotic liver metastases and granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) driven leukocytosis(Conn Med. 2010 Aug;74(7):389-91).' This basically is just saying that when fever is caused by the tumor it means that it may reflect the growth or spread of a tumor and meaning it has spread to the liver.
*I would like to point out that mom's vitals show that her liver enzymes are in range and that is a good thing.

The good: I found one site where a patient noted that their oncologist stated that "tumor fever" is when the tumor cells start "melting" the toxins are released and that can cause fever. I also found another patient who has stated that "tumor fever" is a good thing and it means that the tumor is dying and that the dead tissue ends up in your liver and colon and this is what causes the fever.

Finally, the immune system in cancer patients is compromised and weakened so it could be caused by environmental factors. Right now in San Antonio the weather has been weird and its a cool humidity, wet, and overcast which is a perfect environment for bacteria and molds in the air and plenty of people are feeling sick and being affected by allergies.

If you have any more questions, concerns, or your own input I welcome it always.

Thank you and God bless!

-Vanessa