Clean Scan

Almost one year since finishing chemo, Mignon had a clean scan.  Woo hoo!!!!!

Yipppeee!!!!!

Mignon is all finished with her chemo.  She survived, but barely.  She is back up to a chubby 100 pounds and tearing around town like the old days.  She had a colonoscopy and just had one small polyp.  She still needs to have a CT scan.  She and the boyfriend are headed to France.

Half Way

Little Mignon is halfway through chemo.  She is so thin-thinner than normal.  Her hair is thinning too.  The weeks she has chemo she feels really bad.  The following week she is a bit better.  She never complains.  It is amazing.

Chemo Update

Mignon's white blood count is very low so chemo has been suspended for a while.  She is not feeling well.  I never think anyone can be too thin but in this case little Mignon is too thin.  She still has a great attitude.

Driving

Mignon is driving which is putting her in much better sprits.  She continues to amaze!

Surgery

Mignon's surgery was a success.  She is so amazing.  Her surgery was on Monday and she was home on Friday.  They were able to do the surgery laproscopically and went in through the scar from her previous surgery.  She is not feeling well and the doctor told her it is a six week recovery.  She will resume chemo in 4 weeks.  They did believe that they got all three lesions that were on her liver.

Update from Mignon

This is an email from Mignon.

I am going back for the scan now. I met with the liver surgeon, and he was very direct and clear. He answered all my questions. He said the operation was absolutely necessary, and he he felt 100% sure MD Anderson would agree. He said the spots had shrunk so much, they might not even be able to see them on the scan. He said the spots were probably there all along. It doesn't spread from colon to the liver by lymph nodes but would go by way of the bloodstream. The fact it wasn't in the lymph nodes is very favorable. The only reason that it coming back so quickly is a bad thing is because if you go for a longer period of time "cancer-free", it has more time to manifest itself at any place else it could recur. He said he "wouldn't be irresponsible in using the word "cure", and felt very confident it would remain that way for at least 5 years". (50% chance). The operation would be done laparoscopically. If he did it by way of open surgery, it would take 2 hours, while laparoscopic takes more like 4 hours. He just thinks given where the spots are and size, this is the best way. Less recovery and would probably be in the hospital for 3 to 5 days, no ICU. He would make an incision big enough to get his fist in. "Complete" recovery would probably be a month, at which point they would resume chemo. The risk would be the normal surgery risks of internal bleeding and slight chance of liver failure, but they would know that immediately. Once at home, slight risk of leaking bile since they cut across the bile ducts as part of the surgery, but that would be drained by needle. All of these risks are very minor. He just felt like any hospital would say the surgery had to be done. No question.

Chemo Number Four

Still not feeling well.  Hands are numb.  Tummy is upset.  And that darn fanny pack!  Mignon gets a CT scan on Friday to determine if the chemo is working and when she might be able to the the 3 lesions on her liver removed.  Will update as soon as she has results.

Chemo Number 3

Mignon had her third chemo treatment yesterday.   She is not feeling well.  Not sure if she will have chemo for 3 months or 6 months.  They will do a CT scan and see how she is responding and then decide when they will do surgery.   That is all I know for now.

The kids

The kids seem to be doing well. I photographed them for Mignon for a New Year's card. So cute!!

First Chemo

Mignon had her first chemo last Monday.  She felt terrible all week but texted me this morning that she was feeling better.  I know that if she said she was feeling bad she was really feeling bad because she never complains and always wants to go right on with her life.  And to make matters worse-she has to wear a fanny pack thing around with a chemo drip in it.  Mignon is not a fanny pack type of girl-not even if she could find a Prada fanny pack.  

I really don't know what the plan is because Mignon's doctor is in Africa so she is waiting for him to get back to give her more information.

The good news is that her cancer has not spread beyond her liver.  

The Plan

Mignon had a liver biopsy yesterday and her cancer has spread to two spots in her liver.  The two spots are not close together which is not good news.  One glimmer of good news is that this is the same cancer that was in her colon not a new cancer.  She will have another CT scan next week to make sure her cancer has not spread to her lungs or other organs(insurance reasons).  She will have her port put in on the 4th and begin chemo on Jan 7th.   She is her typical high energy self.  She never complains and endures all of her tests with such grace.

Six Month Mark

Not great news.  Mignon went in for her 6 month CT scan and unfortunately 2 lesions were found on her liver.  She goes in for a biopsy tomorrow.  Port will be implanted and she will begin chemo on Jan 7th.  The goal is chemo, followed by radiation and then liver surgery.

CT Scan

This news is a little old.  Mignon had a CT scan over a month ago and everything was fine!  It did show that her ribs are still broken.  NO, she did not fall when she was drinking or wear ridiculously tall shoes.  She tripped at the Y when she was working out.

Update

Mignon had a colonoscopy last week and all was well.  They did find many polyps that were in the area that was previously blocked by the tumor.  All of the polyps were removed.  Mignon will have a colonoscopy every six months for the next five years.  She is also scheduled for a CT scan this week.

We were laughing the other day because she thinks she is getting her curves back, all 90 pounds of them.

And the Decision Is.....

Mignon got opinions from three doctors, including MD Anderson, and has decided not to do chemotherapy.  Her odds of survival are very good without chemo. She is feeling ok, her stomach still hurts a lot.  And to make matters worse she fell down the other day and her ribs are terribly sore.  To answer your questions, no she was not drinking and no she did not have on tall shoes.  Let's hope I don't have to post again for a long time.

Wonderful News

Mignon met with her doctor yesterday and found out that none of her lymph nodes were affected.  This is truly amazing and her diagnosis has been changed from stage 3 to stage 2!  She is still in a lot of pain from her surgery and will still have to undergo 6 months of chemo.  So many people have delivered food and flowers, she is about to run out of space.  I am sure that over the next six month she will be in need of more help with meals.

Home From The Hospital

Mignon is coming from the hospital today.  The doctors have requested no visitors for a week because of the risk of infection.  She will undergo six months of chemo.  The chemo will start when she has healed from her surgery.

Surgery

Mignon's surgery went as well as can be expected.  She was in surgery for 4 hours, less time than originally anticipated.  The surgeon removed the tumor and 15 lymph nodes.  She is not in ICU but in a lot of pain today.  I am hoping to spend the night in the hospital with her tomorrow night.  Will post another update when I have I have more information.  She has requested no flowers.

A tiny bit of good news

Mignon met with the surgeon yesterday and they are going to be able to operate without shrinking the tumor first.  This is major surgery.  They will remove two feet of her colon and she will be in the hospital for 6 days.  The surgery is scheduled for Saturday (Feb 18th) because that was the first day that there was an operating room available. Mignon will be in surgery for 6 hours.  She will start chemo after she recovers from the surgery.  In the meantime, she is off to LA.