Keep On Keeping On

As seems to be the case nowadays, this update has a little good news and a little not-so-good news. Kristi had scans last Thursday which showed no new growth in her lungs. It didn’t show much else because they only scanned the lungs. End of good news. 

We were a little frustrated with this minimal scan … but we weren’t sure before the scan what they were exactly scanning.  We had asked for a full body scan. While there are benefits to having a big Stanford team, the downside is that things can get lost in translation. 

Kristi’s constant back pain (which really is lower back, hip, abdomen, and the adjacent areas) has been increasing in intensity; she has also begun to have flare ups that last 15ish minutes. While the increasing pain is bad enough, the flare ups are excruciating. Last night I thought we might have to go to the hospital — she says it’s worse than labor pains because they last so long. 

After being very clear with the doctor this evening, she is ordering a scan of the abdomen ASAP — maybe Friday or Sat. If this scan shows an operable tumor, surgery may be an option. 

Until then they’ve stepped her up to the next level of pains meds — big ones. Let’s just say, if we wanted to get rich quick, the street value in our medicine cabinet might exceed our retirement account. 

Kristi is going to work most days; she’s not bedridden or anything like that. She’s a trooper, but she is tired of the constant pain. We went to eat at the Wakehouse after the appointment. It was very nice: good food, beautiful weather, baby geese, and take a look at the level of the river (it’s running incredibly high for those not familiar).