On Friday the 13th, Teresa had her first paracentesis done. We were hopeful there would be a lot of fluid to pull, which would both help reduce her back pain, and reduce the size of her abdomen.
Unfortunately, there was only about 1/2 a liter in there (1 pint, 1/2 a quart, 16 ounces, 33 tablespoons, you get the picture).
We still think that finding a surgeon who will operate, even if they just consider it a palliative operation, is probably going to be her best pain-reducing option.
But it’s unlikely anyone will be willing until she’s got at least 2 full cycles of Yondelis accomplished, and another CT done. So… that’s a waiting game.
Of course, what would be fantastic is if Yondelis is the magic chemo, and the tumors start shrinking (which would also make surgery easier and safer).
We’re still waiting to hear from Foundation Medicine (long story), but I can at least tell you that her tumor sample is actually in *active testing*. I’m hopeful that we’ll hear by the end of next week. They’ll email me the results, so I don’t have to wait until we see Dr. Musgrave to get them.
Tomorrow (well, okay, later today, in about 13 hours), Teresa has a check-up with her cardiologist.
This Friday, we will drive to Atlanta, GA, to attend the first conference by the Sarcoma Alliance. There is no fee to go, and they’re paying for the hotel rooms! Although they don’t have the finalized schedule up, you can get an idea of what we’re going to get to do if you visit this link: https://sarcomaalliance.org/event/sarcoma-exchange-2018/.
We hope to learn helpful things and we’re looking forward to meeting some of the people we’ve met through the LMS Facebook group.