Prayers/Good Thoughts for my mom - Long **UPDATE**
Aug 3, 2016 13:26:49 GMT
newfcathy and quiltz like this
Post by sweetpeasmom on Aug 3, 2016 13:26:49 GMT
In 2007, my mom went for a chest x-ray due to either bronchitis or pneumonia (I can't remember). They found something on the film in her chest. Turns out they thought her thyroid was enlarged. Typically when your thyroid gets enlarged, it grows up into your throat. This had grown into her chest cavity. Due to the location and size, she not only had to meet with the dr for the thyroid but also a heart dr as the mass was at her aortic curve of her heart and it was quite possible that they would need to open her chest up.
A little back story. Years prior (I am not sure how many but prior to 1994) my mom had gone for an interview for a hospital and part of that was for them to do a medical exam. They found this then and it was about 3cm. In 2007 it had grown to 9cm. So it was roughly 14-15 years at least for it to have grown that large.
Ok, so they get in there to do the surgery and yes they ended up having to crack her chest open. When they got in there, they discovered that this was completely separate from her thyroid. Not sure if it was thyroid tissue that had broke off or what. It had its own blood supply. This mass was about the size of my fist. They tested it and it was non-cancerous. The heart dr was blown away by this. He had student drs coming in to see my mom and the pictures of the mass (don't worry, she was ok with all this). She had a long recovery. She essentially had open heart surgery without her heart being worked on.
Fast forward to about a month ago. My mom had been having some bloating at the top part of her abdomen. She has lost a good bit of weight and has not gained that back but just her stomach is bloated. So she went to the dr and she didn't like what she felt pressing around on my mom's stomach. She sent her for a cat-scan. My mom called me last week after going to the dr for the results and turns out the mass is back. This time it's around 11cm and is next to her heart. They think it is putting pressure on her heart and that is causing blood to pool in her abdomen, thus the bloating.
We go to the heart dr today at 1:30 to discuss what needs to be done. This is almost 10 years later. It was a pretty risky procedure the first time. My mom really doesn't want to go through the same thing again. The recovery was hard. She is the caregiver for my almost 90 year old grandmother (who is recovering from a UTI right now) and she has custody of my 10 year old niece. We are hoping they can do this differently since they sort of know what they are dealing with.
Please just say a prayer, lift up good thoughts, anything. I try not to borrow trouble and think the worse most times. But this is scary. For this to have grown back this fast and that much larger in less than 10 years is scary. Knowing the seriousness of this and not knowing how they plan to attack is scary. And to top it off, my mom has bronchitis and a sinus infection currently.
**UPDATE**
I just returned from the dr with my mom. She has a pericardial cyst, that appears to be benign. It is rather large and has to come out. She will have this done Aug 25th. He will go in through her right side, towards her back. He is hoping for just a few incisions. If needed, they will open her further. But they will not have to crack her chest open like they did before. She will most certainly have some pain but her recovery shouldn't be like it was before.
quiltz asked about bringing in care for my grandmother. My aunt that lives in SC will come over if needed. Between her, myself and my sister we can cover all the bases.
Thank you all for the good thoughts and prayers. I feel much better that it's not as evasive as it was before. Now to get her better from this and work on getting her to stop smoking!
A little back story. Years prior (I am not sure how many but prior to 1994) my mom had gone for an interview for a hospital and part of that was for them to do a medical exam. They found this then and it was about 3cm. In 2007 it had grown to 9cm. So it was roughly 14-15 years at least for it to have grown that large.
Ok, so they get in there to do the surgery and yes they ended up having to crack her chest open. When they got in there, they discovered that this was completely separate from her thyroid. Not sure if it was thyroid tissue that had broke off or what. It had its own blood supply. This mass was about the size of my fist. They tested it and it was non-cancerous. The heart dr was blown away by this. He had student drs coming in to see my mom and the pictures of the mass (don't worry, she was ok with all this). She had a long recovery. She essentially had open heart surgery without her heart being worked on.
Fast forward to about a month ago. My mom had been having some bloating at the top part of her abdomen. She has lost a good bit of weight and has not gained that back but just her stomach is bloated. So she went to the dr and she didn't like what she felt pressing around on my mom's stomach. She sent her for a cat-scan. My mom called me last week after going to the dr for the results and turns out the mass is back. This time it's around 11cm and is next to her heart. They think it is putting pressure on her heart and that is causing blood to pool in her abdomen, thus the bloating.
We go to the heart dr today at 1:30 to discuss what needs to be done. This is almost 10 years later. It was a pretty risky procedure the first time. My mom really doesn't want to go through the same thing again. The recovery was hard. She is the caregiver for my almost 90 year old grandmother (who is recovering from a UTI right now) and she has custody of my 10 year old niece. We are hoping they can do this differently since they sort of know what they are dealing with.
Please just say a prayer, lift up good thoughts, anything. I try not to borrow trouble and think the worse most times. But this is scary. For this to have grown back this fast and that much larger in less than 10 years is scary. Knowing the seriousness of this and not knowing how they plan to attack is scary. And to top it off, my mom has bronchitis and a sinus infection currently.
**UPDATE**
I just returned from the dr with my mom. She has a pericardial cyst, that appears to be benign. It is rather large and has to come out. She will have this done Aug 25th. He will go in through her right side, towards her back. He is hoping for just a few incisions. If needed, they will open her further. But they will not have to crack her chest open like they did before. She will most certainly have some pain but her recovery shouldn't be like it was before.
quiltz asked about bringing in care for my grandmother. My aunt that lives in SC will come over if needed. Between her, myself and my sister we can cover all the bases.
Thank you all for the good thoughts and prayers. I feel much better that it's not as evasive as it was before. Now to get her better from this and work on getting her to stop smoking!
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