Alicia has battled swelling and pain in her face and neck the last few days. Yesterday morning the swelling was severe enough that she asked to go to the doctor. They did a CT Scan. Today, as she awaited results, the swelling worsened. She is extremely swollen through her cheeks, jawline and jowls, but worst is her tongue has swollen to nearly filling her mouth. Through all of this she has been dealing with it fairly well.
This afternoon we received the results of her scan. The news is bad. I don't want to seem insensitive, but also don't want a euphemism or sugar coating to alter the message.
Alicia's cancer, even with the two chemo treatments, has, in the last month, has progressed rapidly. She will be given the option of doing another treatment, but the oncologists (both here and at MD Anderson) don't believe that is necessary. The cancer is at its end stage. While we are still waiting for more information, it certainly appears that we will be looking at palliative/hospice type care. She will be going back on her pain meds and they will seek to make her comfortable. I wish I could better describe the way the cancer is marching through her tissues like a well-trained military. It moves into and area, destroys it, then continues its march. In some areas it has moved on so rapidly that is can't develop enough vascular support for the large amount of tissues it is invading. And both the cancer and the "normal" cells are dying. The doctors have also expressed concern that her brain stem appears to be in the path of the cancer. While that area does not have any indications yet, the cancer is quite close. This cancer is aggressive.
This evening shortly after getting this news, Alicia began to feel pain and pressure in her ears. They took her to the hospital for the pain and she has been admitted. She is in St. Mary's room 350.
I will keep you posted as well as I can.
If you have questions please feel free to post them in the comments. If you are not comfortable with that, you can always email me at [email protected]
Thank you all for your continued prayers and support.
~Sarah