The roller coaster ride continues. 

We really thought things were turning around toward the end of last week. Mom wasn't experiencing any significant pain and she was really trying hard to eat on Wednesday & Thursday. Thursday night Lisa noticed mom's breathing was labored and she was having pain on her right side. The home healthcare nurse came Friday and found her oxygen levels were low and some of her other vitals were off. On the advice of mom's oncologist they went to the walk-in clinic. The clinic ran some tests and discovered fluid in the lining of her right lung (pleural effusion). She was admitted to the hospital that night.

Initially they thought she'd need a chest tube to drain off the fluid, but the radiologist was able to aspirate with a needle instead. We were glad they could go the non-surgical route. Since that happened on Saturday morning we've been anxiously waiting test results that will hopefully shed some light on the cause. Because the hospital is not allowing visitors we've felt horribly out of the loop. The only way to get information is to call the hospital and track down her nurse. Once they're on the phone, they're pretty helpful, but nobody is being proactive about passing along information. Hopefully that will improve once the weekend is over and more of her care team is on site. 

I did talk to mom on the phone this afternoon. She sounds groggy, but says she's not in any pain and has been able to rest. Lisa made sure to ask her yesterday if she feels safe and taken care of and mom said she does. We still don't like not being with her though. It sucks to feel so helpless.

What she seemed to be most confused by, when I spoke with her earlier, is why she just doesn't feel like doing anything. Especially eating. We may have the start of an answer from a blood test that came back today. It's for something called prealbumin and it's an indicator of whether you're getting enough nutrition. Her level was well below the acceptable range. Which makes total sense since she really hasn't eaten in any meaningful way since sometime in December. A working hypothesis is that she's experiencing symptoms similar to anorexia even through her weight is at a normal level. I'm certainly no expert, but maybe that would explain the fogginess, lack of appetite, depression, etc.

Her care team is going to be meeting with her tomorrow to lay out a plan forward. We're assuming it will include a feeding tube of some sort. Hopefully a temporary one. It might be wishful thinking on my part, but I can't help but believe she'll feel so much better once her body has some calories and nutrients to work with.  Please keep your fingers crossed and send good thoughts. 

Love from all of us,
K