Update on Sue

Hello Family & friends,
An update for all of you on Sue's doctor visit Friday. I need to prepare you that the news is not very good, but would rather have you hear it from me than have Sue explain it which takes away too much of her energy right now.
Her physical condition continues to slowly slide as it takes her a long time to get off the couch, out of bed, dress herself etc... this should paint a picture of her current condition, let alone walking around with an oxygen line full time (she only had part time prior to the pneumonia).
Friday, she had two key follow-ups:
1. blood work to see where her red & white blood cells are (her red cell ct.needs to be around 12 to receive chemo and is currently at 9.4 from an 8 a week ago). Dr. Karamlou is comfortable about proceeding with chemo since it is trending towards 12 and will continue to monitor it once they handle the lung situation.
2. x-ray on her lungs to see what % fluids are remaining in the lungs (learned that her lungs were 40-45% full of fluid when she had it extracted. They took it down to 30% since the bottom portion of her right lung has collapsed. We discovered that no additional fluids have entered the lungs (this is good), but it remains in the lungs and two options are possible: a drainage system that is high maintenance and susceptible to infection or a procedure called talcpleuradesis in which they surgically place a substance that closes off all the pockets and chambers absorbing the fluids and becomes an irritant causing the fluid not to settle in the lung. The risk is possible infection and another toll it takes on Sue's body.

Here is the tough news and I will be as straight forward as I can. We asked the doctor hard questions as he was explaining that Sue will never get any better than she is today and that her condition is declining and looks like she will continue to decline at the rate we have seen over the past two weeks. He also stated they are now at a point where decisions whether to go through with the talcpleuradesis or not is only going to prolong your life a little longer, but there is a risk to infection which would accelerate a downturn.

We cried a lot Friday night and mom, Sue and myself discussed what we felt was the best decision. Sue will never be someone who throws in the towel, but understands her condition and know hers days are numbered. As of right now, she has elected to continue to "swing the bat" and go through the surgical procedure (small incision through her back and enter through the bottom half of her lung). We don't know how much time she has left, and this is not ours to know, but Sue continues to fight with everything that's available to her.

Sue is not ready to leave us and continues to mention family and friends that mean EVERYTHING to her. Her life right now is difficult and hard to do anything and is constantly out of breath. I told her last week that I would support her to go anywhere outside the US to try different types of cancer remedies, but she has decided that she wants to stay here close to friends and family and not find herself alone in a foreign country if things go wrong. I respect that decision, but like her, want to keep swinging the bat.

Finally, in her amazing ways, what makes Sue break down and cry (I can't describe how painful it is to hear her cry the way she has the past 24 hrs) is the pain she thinks it has on all her loved ones. Instead of thinking about what she is going through, she is more concerned with everyone else. This is why we hold her in such high esteem.

I asked her today if she would be willing to fly out for Tara's graduation and she said "absolutely", so it gives her hope to meet this milestone.

I am back home after being away for 2 weeks, but the good news is that the Moellers (sister Stacy & family) are there and are loving on Sue.

One note: Mom is living with Sue full time and has been ABSOLUTELY amazing caring for Sue. She has been rock solid and doing what she does best. Caring for her children.

Sue really enjoys hearing from her friends and loved ones, but understand her energy is limited and will respond to e-mails and phone calls when she can.

One of her greatest regrets is that she cannot be with her students right now, but wants them to know that she loves them dearly and looks forward to seeing them soon.

Matt