Leah Ferdinandt-Mandery

Leah was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer on Friday July 7th.  We visited with her doctor and were told there were extreme metastasis in her abdomen which meant they stopped counting after 10 spots.   He suggested she have a CT scan of her upper chest to check for more spots so that appointment was the following Tuesday July the 11th.  That showed no additional spots and she went in for the biopsy on Wednesday the 12th, they gave her IV fluids before the procedure as she was extremely dehydrated and she felt much better after that.  We headed to the oncologist on Wednesday July 19th and were told that she is stage 4.  We noticed that her belly was distended and that she was dehydrated.  They gave her more IV fluids and scheduled her for a parasentisis (draining of fluid off her belly) on Friday the 21st.   The goal was getting her to feel better with pain and fluids before she decided anything about chemo.  They gave her 2-6 months, 3-6 months in there if she did chemo.  We scheduled another oncology appointment for Friday the 28th.  She had a couple of good days after the parasentisis.  Sunday the  23rd and Monday the 24th were not good days.  Paula made an appointment for her to get fluids on the 24th and she was very weak.  They got her into the car and she threw up so they made the call to go to the ER.  When she got into her room her oxygen level was at 40.  They immediately got 2 pressurized IVs in her and a c-pap machine to force oxygen into her lungs.  Her sats went up to 80 almost immediately.  We thought we were losing her at that point.  They did a CT scan as they thought it was either a Pulmonary Embolism (blood clot in her lung) or Pneumonia.  They found she has multiple Pulmonary Embolisms in both lungs so started her on IV Heparin.  They then moved her to the ICU.  She stayed on the c-pap machine until yesterday (25th).  They then changed the c-pap to a high flow humidified nasal cannula.  She had 3 meals, more than she has eaten in a week.  They also gave her more IV fluids last night.  She had an echo of her heart and they found the right side is enlarged due to the blood clots.  She was very sassy last night so that was excellent.  Today palliative care came in  and will continue to help her in the hospital and at home if and when she is released.  They are going to try a different nasal cannula at some point today and maybe drain some of the fluid off of her belly.  She will remain in the ICU until further notice.  She has had lots of visitors and is looking forward to some of her siblings visiting her today.   Love, Andrea, Kitsie & Paula