Linda’s Liver, Chapter 5

“You see this gray area here…..that’s cheese. And that dark area right above it? That’s a whole egg!” (Linda performing as George Wendt from SNL’s Superfans…..DA BEARS! This is one of the only “authorized” images of Linda receiving treatment, for ascites.)

RE: Linda’s Liver Chapter 5 

Date sent: 7/27/17)

Hello all!

I can't believe it's been more than a year since my last update.  I think it's because I've seen or been in touch with most of you through these months.  An email update seems a bit redundant.  But, in the interest of completism and to bring others up to date, here it is!

Following Linda's Liver, part 4, surgical resection of my right liver lobe was deemed too risky.  Dr. Goldstein, my very Zen liver surgery swami, took a look and reportedly was heard to say "Eeww."  Followed by "Uh., no."  Too much damage, too large of an affected area, too little healthy organ (left lobe) remaining to take over the whole job of blood filtering, etc. (and too close to the diaphragm) 

Not the outcome we were hoping for.  But on the bright side, none of the three tissue samples he took during the procedure showed any active tumor activity.  PET scans and really positive tumor/cancer marker numbers (ranging 8-15-ish; normal is 3-5, I'd started at 25,000) corroborated the diagnosis. 

So, last fall (of 2016), I was on a maintenance chemo program -- an oral Xeloda pill regimen -- while I searched for my next dream job, my previous dream job at Microsoft having ended June 30 when 1) Microsoft moved all marketing functions to their Seattle headquarters and 2) Microsoft realized they had missed the smartphone boat by about five years and had no chance whatsoever of cracking the market dominated by Apple and Android, even though, IMHO, Microsoft had very competitive hardware and much more elegant software.  Ahem.

While it kept me out of the infusion center, the Xeloda program was a real bee-atch.  Seven size 15 pills every day for seven days followed by seven days off. I had pretty gnarly side effects:  The skin on the bottoms of my feet peeled off.  (I have pictures if you need proof.)  My gut started swelling and bloating.  And, most importantly, the Xeloda didn't work -- cancer activity increased.  Not significantly, but enough.

I started my job at SiriusXM on January 10 (of 2017), very near Coppell, working on a small team supporting subscription-based lifecycle marketing for their connected car services group.  Learning new things, despite being a bit of an old dog.

A few short weeks after that, Dr. Saez, my oncologist who's navigated me through these past 2 1/2 years, put me back on a regular chemo program with a cocktail of Oxaliplatin and my old friend, Erbitux.  One day, every two weeks, in the infusion center followed by two days of 5-FU Fluororacil in the portable pump.

I was able to handle the routine with few side effects.  Most bothersome and uncomfortable: the bloating continued and increased.  I looked pregnant and very near delivery!

The bloating was finally attributed to Ascites (ass-CEE-tees), a fluid build-up in the peritoneum encasing the abdominal organs caused by -- at least in my case -- the liver pushing out fluids it couldn't handle in its compromised condition.  (Per Wikipedia, the term is from Greek askítes meaning "baglike".)

Ascites is treatable -- thank God.  Over the course of about two months, I had several paracenteses where they basically stuck a straw into the cavity and drained out the fluid.  Yuck, but well worth it.  My procedures resulted in from 3 to almost 8 liters -- yes, LITERS -- being drained each session and the return of being able to button my pants.

And, even better news, I experienced a return of low tumor markers and clean PET scans.  Dr. Saez declared a three-month chemo holiday -- HOORAY -- which started about June 13.….

(Jeff note: we also had a family meeting here to let the girls know just how close Linda was to remission at this moment)

 ...and on the morning of June 19, with Jeff and the girls taking a much-deserved week off in rural Missouri at our beloved Shell Knob on Table Rock Lake, I threw up a not-so-small lake of my own.  Unfortunately very red blood.

Many, many, many people to thank for their heroics and open-hearted support over the days, weeks that followed.  But that morning, all thanks go to Kim Loucks who raced over to our house, delivered me to the ER at Medical City Lewisville and sat there with me for many hours before and after I was admitted.  (Additional thanks to Jay, Pat, Julie for spelling Kim when she was about to pass out herself...)

 At MC Lewisville:

•      ICU

•      Endoscopy which found ruptured varices (small blood vessels) in the lower part of my esophagus.  These were the source of the blood and were repaired through "banding," which kind of rubber bands the ruptures, allowing scar tissue to form and close off the leak.  Too much blood in my stomach made it impossible to tell if there were further ruptures of varices there.  I have no memory of this.

•      Intubation/ventilator for a couple of days.  I have no memory of this.

•      Transfer to Baylor Scott & White hospital downtown (where Dr. Goldstein and his crackerjack team of specialists work), I think on that Friday, June 23.  I have about 30 seconds of memory from this ambulance trip -- unbelievable number of potholes as we neared the hospital.  I thought maybe I'd been transferred to Bangladesh by mistake.  Thank God for morphine.

At Baylor:

•      ICU for a two days...

•      Regular room for 3 1/2 days

•      Discharged 6/28

 I return to work at Sirius next week, Tuesday 8/1.  My supervisor, team and benefits group there have been absolutely wonderful through this whole mess. I hope to finish this update and provide a look at plans going forward, hopefully in the next couple of days.

 As always, thank you for your friendship, support and continued prayers.

 Much love to you...

- Linda