Where we are at...

I've been able to talk to some of you, but rather than updating each person individually, I'm giving in and resorting to blogging. As most of you know, my mom is sick -- they are working on trying to figure out the cause right now, but she is currently in the hospital in Bethesda, MD. She was admitted to the hospital with a significant amount of fluid on her lungs(about 3 liters), but they don't know exactly what's causing it. On Saturday night, she had to go to the ER in Berlin, Maryland (near Ocean City) and then they released her to be transported to DC to get to a bigger hospital that could better handle her case. She saw the doctors on Monday and they admitted her to the hospital here. We are very lucky -- my grandmother's friend Arnold has a son in law who is a cardiologist in Bethesda -- he was able to get her seen by a very good pulmonologist and they are moving quickly to find the cause of this. The doctor drained 1 liter of fluid from her lungs Monday, which allowed her to be able to breathe much better and talk. Today at 1pm, they are going in and draining another 2-3 liters. They are also going to do a procedure to seal the pleural cavity so that more fluid cannot reaccumulate there. They will use a camera to look around and also to take some biopsies. She'll have a chest tube for 3-4 days after that. The good thing is that since they were able to drain some of the fluid Monday, they were able to send it ahead to begin getting it tested to determine the cause of all of this. Also in our favor is that she did have a clear chest xray and clear blood cancer screening in the past few months.

I am trying to stay positive and not have any pain in advance. I never thought that I would hope for someone to have pneumonia, but that's where I'm at right now. It is very good that they were able to get her here to this hospital where they have every specialist that she may need.

I was able to spend some time with her last night at the hospital. She was in very good spirits and was feeling comfortable...she is very positive and is ready to take on whatever we come across. We don't any any answers yet, but they are narrowing....there is still a chance that there will be a different outcome, but right now we are trying to prepare for the very real possibility that her breast cancer has returned. I will see her tonight after the surgery and my dad and grandmother will be with her during the day along with one of her brothers.

I'm sorry to do this all over email/blogging...but she has a lot of people worried about her right now and this way I can make sure everyone gets the info they need. Some people have asked for her hospital info. She is currently in Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, MD. She can't really talk on the phone or have many visitors, but your thoughts and prayers do wonders. She will probably be in the hospital for 4 or 5 more days barring major complications.

Thanks for all the support....we truly appreciate it...I will update this blog as we learn more about what is going on.