A turn for the worse

On Monday I took Mum for a CT scan and then we had a Consultant appointment. Her bloods were fine and although she is weak, they decided to press ahead with her Chemo on Thursday.

But then on Wednesday her Consultant received the negative results of Mum's CT scan and ordered her straight into hospital. The scan showed some pelvic abnormality and we don't know what this is as yet but it is possible that it is a secondary source of cancer. As a result of this, all Chemo treatment has stopped and she has been admitted to hospital for a full medical assessment.

In the meantime, her time has come to an end at her current Residential Care Home as they have a full house from next week. So Mum would have had to leave there in any event. That leaves us with locating a new home possibly with Nursing Care for when she leaves hospital. She is currently unable to cope alone at home.

N has been a massive support over all this time and has done a tremendous job is identifying new homes in the area suitable for Mum. She has made appointments for us to go and see three of them on Monday.

Calcium levels and Tourism

I am writing this whilst travelling to Tunisia.

I took Mum for a hospital appointment on Tuesday. It had been made for her because of a high calcium count.

The doctor was rather bemused by our presence though: it seems that everyone on Chemotherapy has a high calcium count. So it was a bit of a wasted trip but at least I learned stuff about calcium counts I didn't know before.

A normal calcium count would be 2.3 - 2.4 and Mum's is 2.68 so not massively high. A dangerous level would be 3.

I am abroad now until Thursday 22nd. Mum has a Consultation on Monday 19th and Cycle 4 of her Chemotherapy on Thursday 22nd.

So I am keeping everything crossed while I am away. Please do the same. X

Feeling a little better

Just spoke with Mum and she is feeling a little better now. She sounds much clearer in her speech and we think maybe the blood transfusion has helped. She still has a high calcium count though and we are seeing the Doctor on Tuesday about this.

A Frail Day

Mum is feeling a bit under the weather today. It is the middle part of the cycle so this is to be expected. But at least it isn't as bad as it might have been without the blood transfusion.

I feel so helpless being as far away as I am but I will be there on Tuesday to take Mum to her next appointment.

The picture is a view we could see from our old family house. We used to call it the full circle. It reminds me of home.

Blood transfusion

I went to see Mum on Sunday and Monday. We did some banking and sorted a few bits and bobs out. Mum is obviously very happy at the respite home and she is being well looked after. She is able to stay for six weeks and then we have to start paying. Social Services have been to see her and we are awaiting the costs. None of this matters though because the most important thing is that she is safe and happy.

Mum went for a blood transfusion yesterday and it seems her Calcium is still low. We have an appointment on Tuesday to find out more about this.

The picture was taken in a Tesco cafe where we dined heartily on Monday. It is good to see Mum eaten better now.

Cycle three

Well today is the third cycle of Chemotherapy. Mum is having between six and eight cycles so potentially this means we are half way through. We didn't get the blood test results because they were sent straight to the Chemo unit so presumably they are ok because the appointment hasn't been cancelled.

Fingers crossed.