Hello to all,
Thank you for your concern, I appreciate it. I do have questions here at the end of my update, so if you have an opinion, I would be grateful to hear it. I have not listed any specifics previously because I wasn't sure what mom's problems were, but we went to the emt today (tumor specialist). After examining the cat scan and her personally (without a biopsy), he said she had a SCC (Squamous Cell Carinoma) at the base of her tongue which was mid-range in size. He did not see that it had metastasized to her lymph nodes, but was not sure. He did see some spots on her lungs. I personally believe that the spots on her lungs were already there. (emphysema) He has set her up for a pet scan to determine if she is cancerous elsewhere. Mind you, I have not shared with mom the information that I have gleaned from those of you on this website. We discussed various treatments, of which I told him that surgery and chemo was out of the question - she would not survive the treatment and her remaining life would be miserable, he agreed 100 percent. We discussed radiation treatment... and I expressed my concerns about the burn and blistering of the throat, the damage to the salivary glands and the possibility of having to pull her teeth to avoid infection. He suggested that there have been recent cases in which very low doses of radiation have slowed the growth of the cancer and in a very few (rare), disposed of it. He also said that he would not recommend radiation (even low dose) without the radiologist suggesting that she was a viable candidate for such treatment and therefore would set up the appt to see the radiologist. If the radiologist says that she is a viable candidate for this then we would need to get a biopsy. I know a biopsy is normal for most people, however it is not for mom... here is a partial (because I don't know all that she has or what the past is} of her medical problems--She has or is:
legally blind due to torn retina caused by the arthritis
asthma
copd
mild emphasema
severe arthritis (which is crippling without meds)
mild strokes (for which she take blood thinners)
weak heart
vertigo
high blood pressure
irregular heart beat
I am sure there are many more, I just can't think of them at the moment and she is physically weak. I whip out the wheelchair if we need to walk more than 200 feet - because she needs to rest.
She is on medications for all of these. Her heart has stopped on the surgery table before, it is difficult to get her back after being anesthetized.... not a good thing.
A biopsy for mom is surgery, which means that she needs to NOT take her blood thinners. Hazardous... but acceptable
The emt said he would do the biopsy if the radiologist said that she was viable for the low dose of radiation, otherwise it was not necessary because the outcome will be the same - death. He wasn't blunt like this, but I was pulling teeth. He also said that he would like to insert the trachea and PEG while she was still healthy enough. He needed her to be able to go off the blood thinners for 5 days and would schedule both procedures to be done so that she would only have to go off the meds the one time. He did not explicitly say, but the inference was that if she did not get the trachea she would suffocate. He suggested that both would be for her future comfort and she did not need to use them until the actual need arose. I am assuming from this that her throat is closing from the cancer and if another avenue is not provided she will slowly suffocate from lack of air. The PEG is so that she will be able to receive the benefits of nutrition and medications (I assume mainly for pain management). Mom understood that she had cancer and was going to die, but she was looking dumbfounded as we discussed the tubes and meds and feeding and what was so not acceptable to me. This particular cancer to me really is "SO NOT ACCEPTABLE". We cried together before going to bed, kind of....she has no tear ducts due to previous surgeries so she can't physically cry.
I would like some opinions please on what you think about placing the trachea and PEG tube at this stage? Some of you never had one or the other, let alone both, what do you make of this? Do you think this is reasonable or advisable? Any opinions here are appreciated.
Thanks again
Carol