A Mixed-Bag

Greetings Loyal Readers,

Today's posting is brought to you by the letter "H." First in your head, first in your heart. And remember, you can't spell happy without "H".

So much for commercial announcements, let's get down to business now, shall we?

As you know, Mom saw Cotton Stork (a/k/a Dr. Sato) yesterday. And, as today's title implies, the news was kind of a mixed bag. The tumor in Mom's liver has gotten both bigger and smaller. What's that, you say? How can that be? Well, if you'd stop interrupting and allow Your Favorite Correspondent to correspond, you'd already have the 4-1-1 by now.

When Mom received the TheraSphere treatment, they treated the left side of her liver. The good news is, there's been some slight shrinkage to the left side. The bad news is the tumor has grown a bit on the right (untreated) side. But the good news is there's still no sign of a cancer in the pancreas. Hmm...2 goods, 1 bad...not a bad ratio.

Now what does this all mean? Well, even though the radiation from the seeds only lasts for 10-14 days, the optimal imaging is at 90 days, meaning we still might see more shrinkage from the first treatment to the left side. It also means that on Friday, April 4th, Mom is going to have a procedure to place seeds by the right side of her tumor. So, it'll be pretty much the same process as last time, though Uncle Rusty/Papa (Mom's boss/friend, Russell) will be standing in for YFC. Of course, Russell has some big shoes to fill, but luckily he has big feet (which is only partly due to his flare-ups of gout).

In other news, Mom's blood tests were all fine, which means the liver is functioning properly. Also, Mom will not be going to chemo on Monday because she's going to get seeds next week (fret not my loyal flock, Chemo Buddy spots are still available).

Your Faithful Correspondent is already getting excited about Passover. YFC saw Cousin Nanci today and they discussed the upcoming Seder, which will take place the day before a certain favorite someone's birthday. In fact, Cousin Nanci (hey, just realized that her initials are CN, same as mine....well they're the same as mine if her real name was Cousin Nanci which, in fact, it is) confided that the Garoon clan wanted to throw a joint birthday party/Seder, but YFC politely declined. Really, once you start telling a story that involves plagues of locusts and frogs, it pretty much kills your appetite for cake (the fact that Passover is also known as the holiday of lousy birthday cakes also plays a big part...it's a leaven thing). Hey, it's the thought that counts. YFC was also lucky enough to see Cousin Lisa (hope you're feeling better) and Uncle Phil (just back from Acapulco and looking gloriously tan)...not too bad for a Wednesday afternoon.

Well, that's about all the time we have for today boys and girls. YFC will endeavor to have lots of pretty pictures in next week's edition. Until then, remember to think shrink.

Faithfully,
Corey