This will be short... On Monday, Marye got admitted to U of L for another gall bladder attack. Pain, vomiting, etc. They went right to work on pain management and antibiotics to keep the infection away. Her blood work and cultures don't indicate any infection, but her white blood cells are very low and dropping, most likely due to the chemo. At this point, we're looking at gall bladder attacks with increased frequency and very weak blood counts.
Today, they did the echo cardiogram to look at the fluid around the heart. Also, she's been struggling with her breathing. So, tonight, Dr. Riley informed us that Marye is in heart failure, with an Ejection Fraction (EF) of 15% (normal is between 55-70%). This could be caused by any number of factors: the adriamycin she took back in 2005, the cancer she has now. No way of telling... doesn't really matter. It's irreversible. It also explains a lot of her fatigue and shortness of breath lately.
We have a DNR order on her.
That said, she's been known to rally from these difficult periods, so we're not throwing in the towel. In spite of everything, the gall bladder actually appears to be improving, so we're trying to wean her off some of the heavier pain meds and get her back on stuff that she can take at home. We'll talk to the cardio team here on Friday and see what they have to say about meds for the heart failure. If she does get to go home, we'll set up hospice again and reassess what kind of chemo schedule she can handle.
She's still fighting, but she's tired. I'll post an update again, soon.
-Chris
