Monday

Today was a good day! We went to see Mom and she was awake and just back from radiation treatment #4 (they didn't do it last Thursday).  All went well with that.

Today we met Dr. Muthard who is the other pulmonologist (rotates with Dr. Burton).  Dad and I really liked him and he advised us that we are proceeding with the stent.  It will be a "Y" stent which will be placed at the distal end of the trachea at the bifurcation.  What that means in English is that the tumor is at the far end of the windpipe right at the place where it splits off to each lung, more so on the left.  Dr. Cochran will perfom the procedure and Dr. Muthard will most likely be in there.  It is something they will place with a fluroscope, through the mouth under anesthesia. Once that is place hopefully there will be no more need for the breathing tube.

They will order the stent based on the CT scan and broncoscopy measurements. Dr. Muthard told us the OR coordinator is setting things up so hopefully tomorrow we will know the schedule.

Meanwhile, Mom gets better at communicating every day, and holds the remote with her left hand so Dad can't be in charge and watch any sports or the business channels. She even managed a few laughs today, so she is fighting!!

Love,
Heidi