A Helping Hand for Kathy
Donation protected
On Saturday, May 30th our lives were forever changed. I received a call from Leo informing me that my mom Kathy was sent to the hospital because of crushing pain in her jaw that was shooting down to her chest. She had had this pain a couple times before, but had always been sent home with no significant findings. This time was different though. When the ER doctor performed an EKG, they found that the left ventricle in her heart was working much harder than it should be. This finding prompted the doctor to order a chest x-ray to take a look at her heart.
The doctor returned and said that there was a spot on her lungs that they would like to further investigate. Given her prior history of having had a blood clot in her lung, doctors wanted to make sure that she did not have another blood clot. They ordered a CAT scan to get a better look and the suspicious spot.
I received a call from my Mom around 2:30 on Saturday afternoon. The only words she was able to muster out with her shaking voice was “it’s really bad”, and with that she handed the phone off to the doctor. The doctor got on the phone and told me that regretfully he had bad news. The problem area in question on her lung was not in fact a blood clot, but a mass. Additionally, during the CAT scan, they found a mass on the top of her adrenal gland. I felt like I time was standing still, wanting to press rewind and be able to un-hear the horrible news that was just presented to me. I could only imagine what my mother was feeling at that very moment.
Kathy was admitted to the hospital that day to further investigate what was going on with her heart. There was still the question as to why her heart was working so hard on the one side. The doctor was concerned she might have a blockage. On Monday morning they performed a cardiac catheterization to look for any blockages. Luckily, none were found and she would not require a stent to be placed. At this point, focus was able to be shifted to the two masses. My mom was discharged from the hospital later that day. Fortunately, they were able to schedule her an appointment with oncology the following day.
Tuesday we met with Dr. Rao to discuss possible diagnoses and a diagnostic plan moving forward. Dr. Rao informed us that in fact my mom does have lung cancer. The biggest and most important question is what stage. This will solely depend on the status of the adrenal gland mass. If the mass on her adrenal gland is not cancerous, then she will most likely be at a stage 1 lung cancer. The treatment for this would probably be surgical removal of the mass on the lung at Mass General Hospital in Boston, followed by possible chemo therapy. In the event that the mass on her adrenal gland is cancerous, this will mean that Kathy is in stage 4 lung cancer. This is incurable. She would have to undergo chemo therapy, radiation and possible surgery to hopefully give her more time with her loved ones.
Over this next week, Kathy will undergo a brain scan, a biopsy of her adrenal gland and a PET scan that is used to detect cancer. The end of next week she will have a meeting with a thoracic surgeon at Mass General Hospital, as they do not have the capabilities at Southern NH to perform this type of lung surgery. We will hopefully meet with the oncologist again next Tuesday to find out all of the test results and what stage/type of cancer that my mom has. During this time, please send prayers, good vibes, positive thoughts and anything else good that you believe in!
Regardless of the road my mom will have to travel, she will need much support from family and friends along the way. Best case scenario, she will be out of work for a minimum of 3 months. My mom has never been one to ask for help from anyone. Rather, she is usually the one doing all of the helping! She is one of the most selfless people I have ever met. She has always made sure that her children and grandchild are very well taken care of, she dedicated years of her life to helping her parents during their time of need and she is always willing to help family and friends in need no questions asked and nothing ever expected in return.
With everything my mom will be going through over the coming months, I hope that finances will be the least of her worries. Any donation will be greatly appreciated. In my opinion, she is one of the most deserving people of all of the love, positivity and prayers that I know will be coming her way.
Thank you so much.
The doctor returned and said that there was a spot on her lungs that they would like to further investigate. Given her prior history of having had a blood clot in her lung, doctors wanted to make sure that she did not have another blood clot. They ordered a CAT scan to get a better look and the suspicious spot.
I received a call from my Mom around 2:30 on Saturday afternoon. The only words she was able to muster out with her shaking voice was “it’s really bad”, and with that she handed the phone off to the doctor. The doctor got on the phone and told me that regretfully he had bad news. The problem area in question on her lung was not in fact a blood clot, but a mass. Additionally, during the CAT scan, they found a mass on the top of her adrenal gland. I felt like I time was standing still, wanting to press rewind and be able to un-hear the horrible news that was just presented to me. I could only imagine what my mother was feeling at that very moment.
Kathy was admitted to the hospital that day to further investigate what was going on with her heart. There was still the question as to why her heart was working so hard on the one side. The doctor was concerned she might have a blockage. On Monday morning they performed a cardiac catheterization to look for any blockages. Luckily, none were found and she would not require a stent to be placed. At this point, focus was able to be shifted to the two masses. My mom was discharged from the hospital later that day. Fortunately, they were able to schedule her an appointment with oncology the following day.
Tuesday we met with Dr. Rao to discuss possible diagnoses and a diagnostic plan moving forward. Dr. Rao informed us that in fact my mom does have lung cancer. The biggest and most important question is what stage. This will solely depend on the status of the adrenal gland mass. If the mass on her adrenal gland is not cancerous, then she will most likely be at a stage 1 lung cancer. The treatment for this would probably be surgical removal of the mass on the lung at Mass General Hospital in Boston, followed by possible chemo therapy. In the event that the mass on her adrenal gland is cancerous, this will mean that Kathy is in stage 4 lung cancer. This is incurable. She would have to undergo chemo therapy, radiation and possible surgery to hopefully give her more time with her loved ones.
Over this next week, Kathy will undergo a brain scan, a biopsy of her adrenal gland and a PET scan that is used to detect cancer. The end of next week she will have a meeting with a thoracic surgeon at Mass General Hospital, as they do not have the capabilities at Southern NH to perform this type of lung surgery. We will hopefully meet with the oncologist again next Tuesday to find out all of the test results and what stage/type of cancer that my mom has. During this time, please send prayers, good vibes, positive thoughts and anything else good that you believe in!
Regardless of the road my mom will have to travel, she will need much support from family and friends along the way. Best case scenario, she will be out of work for a minimum of 3 months. My mom has never been one to ask for help from anyone. Rather, she is usually the one doing all of the helping! She is one of the most selfless people I have ever met. She has always made sure that her children and grandchild are very well taken care of, she dedicated years of her life to helping her parents during their time of need and she is always willing to help family and friends in need no questions asked and nothing ever expected in return.
With everything my mom will be going through over the coming months, I hope that finances will be the least of her worries. Any donation will be greatly appreciated. In my opinion, she is one of the most deserving people of all of the love, positivity and prayers that I know will be coming her way.
Thank you so much.
Organizer
Kami Raleigh
Organizer
Milford, NH
