Update

Yesterday was a long, exhausting, trying, nerve-wracking, crazy day. Shawn's flight got in Wednesday morning at 12:01 a.m. My parents picked him up and he went straight to bed with a migraine. Everyone was back up at 6:00 a.m. to get ready to see the lung surgeon. We picked up Kara & got to Jameson at 8:30. Dr. Landreneau operates there twice a month and has office hours in between his cases. As a result of his schedule, we didn't see him until 10:30. He had reviewed the days previous CT scan but somehow the one done at Northside on 8/3 was not there. He needed to compare the two to see if there was adequate shrinkage of tumors to warrant the surgery. He ordered a lot of tests but couldn't give us a decision on surgery at this time. I was a nervous wreck by now and, believe me, it only got WORSE as the day went on. We went home and Alan & Shawn ran back up to NSH to get copies of CTs. Then it was time to head back to New Castle to see the radiation oncologist. We dropped off the disc at Jameson and went to UPMC cancer center to see Dr. Wilson. I gave him a copy of the discs which he pulled up on the computer and measured and compared for about 45 minutes. He also had imported the PET scan and compared that. We were still in limbo at this time. He called Dr. L who was still tying to make a decision on surgery. The main concern is the mediastinal node involvement. He was thinking about more radiation but Dr. Wilson (radiation oncologist) explained to him the large dose I had to mediastinal area & that I was maxed out. After a long conversation, it looked like surgery was on. The lung tumor had not shrunk too much which we knew all along because a lower dose was used here. The hilar area tumor appears to be gone. The mediastinal tumor has had 25% shrinkage.My Dr. said if that wasn't addressed, it would have eventually closed off the windpipe. There was a ton more of discussion that I can't go into right now, but I was totally overwhelmed. We had to have Donny meet us in New Castle to pick Kara up because she was late for work & we had to head straight to the airport to drop off Shawn. On the way there, Dr. Landreneau's nurse called to tell me I was on for November 11th. I'll be done right at Jameson where he has his own team & equipment. I'll be in ICU 2-3 days and in the hospital approximately a week. Oh, did I mention I had a tour of the ICU & met the head nurse earlier? Just a little more sensory overload. By the time we got home, I was an emotional mess. My right index finger was totally throbbing & red from those little tumors from the scleroderma. Dr. S came over and checked it and called in an antibiotic. Mo came over to calm things down. Bless them both. I got a call from the cardiologist today for an appt. for a cardiac clearance. I saw him today and he really doesn't know what is causing tachycardia. He said as long as it stays in a sinus rhythm, we're ok. I have a stress test, EKG, 2D Echocardiogram & CXR tomorrow. I also have pulmonary function tests, arterial blood gases, and CT scan of the head Nov. 4th. This is long and rambling. I apologize. I am trying to keep my cool-very difficult right now. Linda     P.S. The surgery will be a left thoracotomy with left lower lobectomy and mediastinal node dissection. My radiation oncologist just called me and said to stay positive-attitude is very important. I get that! Dr. Dayal is at Jameson & looking out for me-Thanks, Martha.