Kelly has been dealing with an impinged nerve and arm twitches. At around 3:00 on Sunday it got really bad, so we went to urgent care. Her speech was slow and labored, and we thought she was just freaked out, but the urgent care doctors at Fanny Allen were concerned enough that they sent us to the emergency room. They suggested an ambulance, but we decided to drive her.
About 1/2 mile down the road, she went into a full seizure, so we turned around and went back to Fanny Allen. From there, they took her by ambulance to Fletcher Allen. They gave her medication to stop the seizure. While she was still in the ER, they did a ct and mri and found a spot on her brain. There was a spot showing up in her brain corresponding to the right arm, so that explains the paralysis and spasms she has been experiencing in that arm over the last few weeks. We were very concerned about metastasized breast cancer because she recently battled breast cancer. Because of this initial concern when she was moved out of the ER last night, she is in a room on the oncology floor at Fletcher Allen.
Elizabeth left home soon after she got the news, and arrived at the hospital before mom was moved out of the ER. From the ER I sent an e-mail to the church prayer e-mail, and that is how many of you found out what is going on. Dan Marcy from church also showed up and stayed with us for a few hours while we dealt with the initial confusion and fear.
Last night, Elizabeth stayed with her while Daddy and I (Sarah) went home to get some sleep. Overnight, they did a contrast CT scan (Elizabeth gave her a special drink to help the scans show up more clearly).
Today, they did a bone scan, and found no metastasized cancer in her bones! This makes it much less likely that the spot is metastasized breast cancer - usually if cancer has metastasized, it will show up in the bones as well.
We were hoping they would send her home this afternoon and have her come back for a biopsy later in the week, but then the doctors told us she will need to stay. (She is very disappointed that she will miss town meeting and voting.... so if you aren't in the hospital, make sure you go to town meeting or at least vote!) She is currently on medications to prevent further seizures, and to reduce inflammation in the spot in her brain, so they may want her to stay so they can monitor her progress.. As of now they are planning to keep her until Wednesday morning when they will do a biopsy. This will give them more information about what the spot is, and what treatment will be best.
Dad was with her throughout the day today and Elizabeth went home to sleep for a bit. I went to work (I needed to be busy at teacher in-service instead of crying constantly). I came back to the hospital after work, and then Elizabeth brought Grandma Lucy over for a visit. Dad brought Grandma Lucy back home and is back home again to get some sleep. I will be leaving the hospital soon (around 11:00) to sleep at home, so Elizabeth will be on night nurse duty again!
Thanks to all of you for texting, facebooking, and generally letting us know that you are thinking about mommy and praying for her. So many of you have offered to help out if we need anything, and we will be sure to let you know if we do.
The medication that she is on right now is making her pretty sleepy, so she isn't really up to many visitors, but we'll be happy to let her know your good wishes if you want to e-mail or text us.
The medication that she is on right now is making her pretty sleepy, so she isn't really up to many visitors, but we'll be happy to let her know your good wishes if you want to e-mail or text us.
