Looking for some Improvement

I have not been here in a while. But am still around. I have been helping my mom out and working a lot of hours. Which leaves me with less time to do my favorite thing..
What is that you may ask,
Well blogging of course what else lol


I was reading some on-line material about using oxygen at home. my mom has been using at home oxygen since she was discharged from the hospitial on October 14th. We dont know if this is temporary yet or long term she will be returning to the chest Doctor on December 1st to see what is the next step. The whole family is keeping her in prayer. She has been having her emotional ups and downs but I always try to cheer her up and make her laugh when she is feeling down.

Oxygen is an invisible gas that your body needs to live. Your lungs take the oxygen out of the air you breathe and put it into your blood. Your blood takes the oxygen to your brain and all of the cells in your body. Your cells use oxygen and nutrition from the foods you eat to make the energy they need to function. If you have problems with your lungs, heart, or blood you may need extra oxygen. Your body may also need extra oxygen after some injuries, such as burns. You may need extra oxygen when traveling to high altitudes or traveling by plane. You may need oxygen if you were exposed to a toxic substance, such as cyanide or carbon monoxide. Supplemental oxygen is thought of as a drug. You must have a prescription  from a doctor for oxygen therapy in order to get it. The prescription will include how much oxygen you should have, and how often. Getting too much oxygen may be dangerous. Always use your oxygen as directed by your caregiver..

My mom needs the supplemental (extra) oxygen because she has a lung disease that the doctors cant determine, they think that the cancer may have spread to the lungs as well as the bones but the also said it may be 2 other things. As a result, she has a breathing problem, doctors can not do a biopsy because she may go into cardiac aresst. Oxygen therapy is suppose to make my mom feel better. She should sleep better, be more alert, and be in a better mood. She should be able to carry out her daily activities without feeling as tired or as short of breath. But that has not been the case she has not been feeling any better. She seems to still be out of breath a lot she says.

She uses a Nasal cannula: A nasal cannula is made of lightweight, flexible plastic tubing. One end attaches to the oxygen source. The other end has two curved prongs that fit just inside your nostrils. The tubing can be held in place by looping it around your ears, or attaching it to your eye glasses.

I feel I  have the right to help plan her care. To help with this plan, I try to learn about her health conditions and how it may be treated. I discuss treatment options with her caregivers. I want them to decide what care may be used to treat her. But if the treatment given isn't showing improvement I will have to backtrack with her doctors and she what else can be done, and this is exactly what I plan to do on December 1st.

Everything falling into presecptive

Mom got her Home health aide. The aide started Friday and my mom will have her six hours a day, five days a week. Now my mom moved into Brooklyn so she could be closer to me and plus all her treatments are in Brooklyn. Everything is getting better. My mom gave me the low down on her knew helper as soon as I walked in her door Friday evening...I said sheesh ma what are you an investigator...lol, One thing for sure the home health aide has an easy job. she has to do all the basics of a homeworker but my mom don't require much because she don't want no one to bath her or cook for her. I don't blame her,my mom is sick but you cant tell her that...lol.  The head nurse also came by on Friday to review my mothers case and if all goes well my mom will get her wheel chair so she can get back and forth to her appointments easier and a chair for bath times.

Due to her lung disease it is very difficult for her to move around without getting shortness of breath,  and that is why she is taken O2. She also have her Access-a-ride, Which is a pain in the butt already she has had her first Chemotherapy treatment on Wednesday the drop off trip was on point, but the pick up was a mess she had to take a cab home. So we came to the conclusion that we will just use them for drop off services ONLY. They are really strict we have to schedule an appointment too days before the appointment and we have to know the exact pick up and drop off time because Access-a-ride don't do same day scheduling, Geezzz. So since most of her appointments are doctor appointment we don't know what time she will be done at the doctors. We will just use it to our benefit and call it a day.

Last but not least she got her insurance cleared on 10/21, and I was able to get her to keep her community medicaid, because Medicaid choice had contacted her trying to force her to take an HMO, but with a HMO they limit her services. Plus two different people That I spoke to,  including a social worker at the hospital told me with her illness she is entitle to straight Medicaid and that I should ignore the HMO issue. When I called up Medicaid after tryin to get in contact with them for four days and I was able to speak to someone, and she told me that my mom IS ELIGIBLE for the straight community medicaid. So all is good.

Mom ChemothreaphyTreatment Update

Mom got her first Chemotherapy (intravenous) IV, treatment yesterday she arrived at 8am and and was finish by 1:30pm. They ran a blood test at first to make sure her kidneys could handle the treatment and what dosage should be given. The nurse says she has to be given the treatment for the rest of her live. That is not cool, but she has to do what she has to do and  this is the outcome when one decides to take it upon there self to ignore there health in the early years.

She was a little nerves but everything went well, she felt a bit tired when she came out but that's all no other side effects yet.

The Outcome.

This post consist of somethings that I have read on-line and what the doctors has told me. I may break it up into two pieces. Since my mom has been released from the hospital on the 14th, she had her first Oncologist visit yesterday. I was able to get her in and out because she was on oxygen and the staff they had yesterday actually gave a *Bleep*.

She is still taking the hormone pill call Estrogen which is suppose to stop the cancer from spreading, she has been complaining about feeling chest pain after she takes them. When we mentioned that to her doctor her response was good it is working *shrugs* Yesterday they decided to start the knew treatment along with the Estrogen pill, she has an appointment next week Wednesday at 8am to start chemotherapy by injection. When I came home from work today I Google the Chemotherapy treatment. The doc had mentioned to us yesterday that it may affect her kidney alongside the fact she will begin to feel very tried. So I asked if they can check to see if it will or will not affect her kidney before they started it. The treatment will be giving to her every 6 weeks if her kidneys can handle it.

On our way home yesterday she rested her head on my should and said Vanessa am scared... I rubbed her on her back and said don't worry ma I'll be right here with you. She made me feel so sad. But my good spirit is what keeps her going most days so I could not let her see my eyes...because she would she the pain in my eyes that women raised me she knows me oh to well..I'll be posting about the Chemotherapy by injection treatment in a few I found some good information I can link to also. I am so happy I can blog when I want to, If I kept all this inside I would probably bust...lol

WHAT IS A SPOT IN THE LUNGS?

A spot in the lung usually refers to a small, discrete, rounded nodule visible on a routine chest x�ray. Spots may range in size from that of a dime to a silver dollar; because their shape is rounded they are often referred to as coin nodules. Coin nodules are never a normal finding, although they may be benign or malignant.
Benign lesions (another word for abnormal spots or coin nodules) are usually due to old infections that have healed to form a scar. Malignant lesions are usually due to lung cancer or cancer that has spread from elsewhere in the body to the lungs. Utilizing only the routine chest x�ray it is seldom possible to differentiate between benign and malignant lesions. This difference is critical since a malignancy (cancer) may be in its early stages and amenable to surgery. Conversely, a benign lesion usually warrants no treatment and will not affect the patient's life. What to do after finding a coin nodule on chest x�ray depends on the patient's age, smoking history, availability of old x�rays, and a host of other factors.
A lung infiltrate is an abnormality on chest x�ray larger than a coin lesion or spot. It is also non�specific and may be due to a variety of causes: pneumonia, partial lung collapse, cancer, tuberculosis, and pulmonary blood clots are common examples.