Update on Romie...not good news :(

[EKR16]

They did an ultrasound on Romie this afternoon & they said they saw some kind of lesions on her jejunum and that her liver and lymph nodes didn't look good. They are going to have a radiologist come in tomorrow & do needle aspirations to see if they confirm the diagnosis, but they think she has lymphoma. The only other possibility they gave me was fungal histoplasmosis, but she didn't dwell on that possibility much.

She said chemo could be done, but in the stomach & GI tract, the prognosis wasn't good...about one year & quality of life probably wouldn't be great. I'm not exactly sure what to do right now. I'm just numb. I so thought this was going to be something we could fix.

 

[johann]

I'm so sorry that you didn't get better news.

No advice...but ((hugs)) headed to you and Romie

 

[BudH]

Erin,
Our heart goes out to you and your buddy, Romie. You are both far too young to be going through this! Our Ribby was unfortunately diagnosed with stomach cancer this past Friday. I wonder if an annual ultrasound would help detect these horrific cancers in the earlier, more treatable stages?

 

[EKR16]

They just called & the biopsies confirmed lymphoma :( They are going to put her on prednisone & some anti-nausea medicine so I can try to make her more comfortable here at home until her time comes....

Bud, I have no idea if that would have helped or not...I sure wish there had been a way to know earlier. And she had no family history of it whatsoever! This just came on SO fast. She started losing a little bit of weight around the first of September, then the nausea & diarrhea started, then the weight loss. It just happened SO fast! I can't hardly wrap my mind around how quickly she has gone down hill. What an awful, awful disease.

 

[EKR16]

Also Bud, I read your post & so sorry to hear about Ribby. They mentioned chemo to me too, but said with the GI and stomach involvement the prognosis wasn't good & might make her sicker....even with chemo they said she'd only have about 60 to 120 days :(

 

[Gatorblu]

I'm so sorry. I hope the meds work and give Romie some relief. you are both in thoughts and prayers.

 

[iluvfrankie]

So sorry its not better news. Thinking of you and your baby and sending hugs....

 

[EAO76]

Sorry you got such sad news. Your in my thoughts. Hopefully the pred will give you guys some extra quality time.

 

[EKR16]

The Prednisone is some amazing stuff...she is almost her old self & eating a ton. It screws with my head a little bit seeing her like this, but trying to keep in mind that she doesn't have much time...does that make sense? I can't help but wonder how long it will continue to work & how much longer I have, while still trying to be happy that she is in good spirits & enjoy every second I have with her. We took a long car ride today & went to Sonic for a burger. Then we went out to my parents' house in the country to play with her "cousin" (my parents' dog). Thank goodness I'm on fall break from nursing school & have extra time to spend with her!

 

[BudH]

Bud, I have no idea if that would have helped or not...I sure wish there had been a way to know earlier. And she had no family history of it whatsoever! This just came on SO fast. She started losing a little bit of weight around the first of September, then the nausea & diarrhea started, then the weight loss. It just happened SO fast! I can't hardly wrap my mind around how quickly she has gone down hill. What an awful, awful disease.

For what it's worth, I asked our Ribby's Oncologist if an annual ultrasound could have detected her stomach cancer sooner. She said it probably would not have since this type of cancer is so aggressive. She added that if you observed small areas to be suspicious about in the ultrasound, absent any syptoms, what could you do? Exploratory surgery would be out of the question without a very good reason...