Maybe these blog posts will move to daily for awhile, with more thorough weekly posts still.
Yesterday afternoon I got the call from oncology that they were able to "squeeze in" a PET/CT scan appointment time for Rory. FOR THE FOLLOWING DAY AT 6:30AM. Some in-laws stopped in for brief visits, and were treated to a little bit of semi-lucidity. It was by far her best part of the day in terms of being awake and able to communicate. I know she really enjoyed having that time.
We're back from that PET/CT now, and she's mostly been sleeping ever since. Her ability to speak is markedly worse than it was yesterday. Oncology has been checking regularly for the radiologist's report, although that might not arrive until tomorrow sometime. Also I found out that her primary oncologist is out of town for a conference this week. All that adds up to "We don't know when we'll know anything more."
Update: the results came back, and I talked to the head nurse in the oncology office. The scans showed "mild increase" in the cancer activity at the known sites, but they insisted that progression shouldn't be the cause of her current physiological and mental symptoms. Their suggestions were:
1) start home hospice
2) return to the ER to get additional testing, including possibly a lumbar puncture (spinal tap)
I assume option 2 is to check spinal fluid for signs of infection or disease.
Based on conversations months ago where Rory said she didn't want her children to watch her decline and suffer for an extended period of time, and given the progression of the disease and lack of positive reaction to the treatments, and a host of other things, we're going ahead with option #1. My sincere hope is that palliative (comfort) care along with no more chemo side effects will give us some good times to spend with her. That's obviously the main reason for making this choice at this time.
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