Count's Up But We're Not Down for the Count

Cheryl had one scheduled doctor's appointment this morning that turned into two. This morning she saw Dr. Wumi, her pulmonologist for a follow-up after having had her pleural effusion drained two weeks ago.

He removed 1.6 liters of fluid from her left pleural cavity and sent it off for cytologic analysis. The report came back as positive for malignancy. They also did a blood panel and another CA-125 test(ovarian cancer marker).Cheryl's CA-125 was 19 a few weeks after she completed chemotherapy. In mid-March it had risen to 97.9 and this latest test showed that her level has risen to 204. This is a strong indicator of a return of cancer.

A chest x-ray done yesterday shows that about 300cc of fluid has already built back up in her chest. Due to this quick a recurrence, Dr. Wumi referred Cheryl back to Dr. Jones, the thoracic surgeon.

Dr. Jones was able to fit her in this afternoon for an appointment and after reviewing her x-rays and history has decided to go ahead and admit her to the hospital next week so he can perform a pleurodesis, a procedure where they open the chest cavity to drain the excess fluid and then blow in talc to cause scarring that should stop the pleural effusion. This will entail a two to five day hospital stay, depending on how quickly she responds to the treatment. I will do another update when we get a date/time for the procedure.

After Cheryl completed her appointment with Dr. Jones, we went down the hall to pass some info to Dr. Burke (gynecologic oncologist). He said that this quick rise in CA125 and other indicators show that Cheryl's cancer is platinum resistant. She will need additional chemotherapy and he will see if she is eligible for a clinical trial.

We are a bit shaken by all of this but we continue to hold on to our faith that God will carry us through. Keep us in your thoughts and prayer in the days to come.