The Lithotripsy procedure was performed this afternoon on the stone in Satomi’s left kidney. Our Urologist said the stones only required 1000 shock wave pulses to disintegrate into sand-sized particles. They limit the “dose” to 3000 pulses so using the crudest measure, things went very well. They had to place a stent in her left Ureter to help pass the debris.
The procedure was done at an Out-Patient surgery center so the formality was relaxed and post-Op was amazingly short compared to say, City of Hope. I know we’re talking extremes here but I was surprised how quickly she was discharged. She was still very sleepy. In any case, the whole procedure took only a few hours door-to-door.
We’re home now and she needs help to walk. She’s very dizzy and tired from the remnants of the general anesthesia. Her throat hurts from the intubation. The stent is very uncomfortable; It makes her feel like pee-ing every 5 minutes.
We bumped up her water intake and pain-killers. She can eat normal food as soon as she wants to. After the pain-killers wear-off tomorrow, she may feel like she’s been beaten up so we planned for the kids to stay over at Baachan’s. I’m just going to keep an eye on her for the weekend.
The stent should come out in a couple of weeks. It’s going to be a long couple of weeks. At least its only an office visit.
In a month or two, we get to do it all over again. Oh boy…
Update 4/11/2010 11:00pm
Satomi is still uncomfortable and going to the bathroom every 30 minutes. She’s passed just a small amount of debris. It’s going to take while to pass the entire stone.
Update 4/18/2010 11:00pm
“Blocked…” That’s the story of the last week. Lot’s of water and lot’s of peeing. We scheduled the stent removal for Tuesday. It’s the earliest the doctor recommended. Only a small bit of very fine debris has passed but that doesn’t seem to concern anyone.
Satomi was on the treatment table for only about 35 minutes; her back didn’t even have time to hurt. It was so fast that I actually thought they were aborting the treatment because I pissed someone off with my blog.
Our favorite Radiation Oncologis started reading this blog while they monitored Satomi’s progress. I got a bit self-conscious after whole treatment team started reading it too. They seemed to enjoy my banter. As they say-the web is forever.
Earlier this year, Newport Diagnostics got a new Cyberknife machine. Lot’s of new gizmos and beeps. It’s 4x more powerful than the previous model that treated Satomi last year. I found all the new features quite impressive. There capabilities have definitely improved since last year. Here’s a link to more information: http://www.accuray.com/products/CyberKnife-System.aspx
Once I realized that they were actually finished after only 35 minutes, “4x more powerful” stuck in my mind. In that split second I was reminded of all the burnt burritos and pizza that we’ve been suffering through since getting our new microwave. Sorry about the obviously flawed comparison but what could “4x more powerful” do? I checked Satomi’s head-No signs of scorch marks or bald patches. I guess that’s a good sign.
There is some localized pain below her left ear but overall, it went well. Satomi was quite tired afterward but that may be due to the extra Darvocet she took beforehand. Her dizziness is the same thus far but we don’t expect to anychanges right away. She was tired the rest of the evening and has been mostly lying in bed. Seems par for the course.
What the heck is that? I didn’t know either and to be honest, I didn’t care much about it. Satomi’s Cardiologist ordered it sort of out of the blue. We got a letter from the Cardiologist and a call from the Imaging Lab. If it were important, I would expect a direct call from the doctor.
Accordingly I delayed the appointment until we had a free week. At least it was a free week when I made the appointment. Now with the new tumor, this was one damn busy week.
The test went smoothly and did have some useful information. All the major vessels in Satomi’s heart are 100% clear of plaque.
Plaque (i.e hardening of the arteries) is a concern since her Cholesterol was over 400 last year. Her Cholesterol is still elevated but the medication seems to be working.
It’s nice to have found a part of Satomi’s body that is working well.
When I spoke to the Cyberknife doctor the other day, I gave her the usual blog address: www.seanookie.wordpress.com.
You all know it. It’s the same one that I’ve been using since the start back in April 2009. The name was awkward then and it remains awkward now.
Many times, I end up having to explain what the hell a “seanookie” is. It’s a long story and given the situation, is not usually appropriate.
So I finally did something about it. A quick online registration form, domain link and alas, www.satomiscancerblog.com is born. Fairly self-explanatory, don’t you think?
We had to catch up with our Oncologist. It’s been many months since we’ve seen her so we talked about many things-Vertebroplasty, kidney stones, weaning from Decadron, and most importantly, the recent brain tumor activity. Needless to say, there was a lot of talking.
New brain tumor notwithstanding, Satomi’s health is improving nicely. Ignoring the obvious may sound ludicrous but it is true. The rest of her body is doing quite well.
Our plan is to re-start the oral chemotherapy following Cyberknife and the kidney stone lithotripsy procedure. If all goes well, that’ll be Monday or Tuesday of next week.
Satomi and I were concerned that she may experience more side effects from the Chemo. The first-time around, she took the Chemo quite easily. Our Oncologist was optimistic-the chemo dosages are quite low.
The doctor ordered a few routine tests including an Echocardiogram and bloodwork.
Everyone is optimistic. We will return in a few weeks to review her progress.
Satomi's Cancer Blog 