Fingers Crossed

Dr. Goswami came in this afternoon around 4:20 p.m. Mom's been in a really good mood since coming out of surgery, and she and Dr. Goswami joked around for a long while.
He will do a venogram Thursday at 3 p.m. He will go in through her right brachial vein and use a catheter to inject dye in the middle and right part of her chest. While he's in the vein, he will use an 'egg-beater' catheter or a mini-vacuum catheter to clean out 3" of clots in her right brachial, near her armpit. The venogram will allow Dr. Goswami to see all of her veins, valves, and residual clots using an X-Ray. It will be a less serious surgery (probably). He doubts that things look as bad now as they did when she got here. She will resume Lovenox (blood thinners) injections tonight, and then stop them after tomorrow morning's injection. She will probably be on Lovenox for another month, but it could be up to three months (for those of you who don't know it, she's been injecting herself in the stomach twice a day with Lovenox in the stomach for almost two weeks). She will most likely be on Coumadin until the cancer is gone.
Dr. Goswami also commented "NO MORE PERMANENT CATHETERS OF ANY KIND. Period. Regardless of where or why." Her blood has issues with clotting, and another catheter would likely cause the same problems. If the chemo does burn her veins, Dr. Goswami suggested a PICC line. At least we have another option.
On a potentially brighter note, Dr. Goswami talked to us for about 45 minutes today. He asked how the cancer started, about its progression, and where Mom's been for treatment. After a bit, he asked why Mayo Clinic wouldn't take the tumor out. I told him that the surgeon at Mayo said she wouldn't touch the tumor due to mom's inferior vena cava being completely enclosed in the tumor. That surgeon said that if the tumor could shrink 30% or more, then she would take it out.
Dr. Goswami knows a top-rated vascular surgeon in Springfield, Dr. McLafferty. He has performed other surgeries that Mayo wouldn't perform. Dr. Goswami said he "has sent Dr. McLafferty some real messes. And he’s fixed them."  Even though we haven't talked to Dr. McLafferty, the prospect of a vascular surgeon cutting the tumor out around her veins makes sense. Dr. Goswami says he is an agressive, state of the art surgeon who is one of the best in the country. Dr. Goswami was calling Dr. McLafferty tonight, and hopefully Dr. Lafferty will be in to talk to us tomorrow. :) We're trying not to get our hopes up until we talk to him, but it's pretty exciting, all the same.
The nun next to mom got discharged today. We were hoping for a night alone, but about five minutes ago they moved a large, disheveled woman next to mom. As you can imagine, mom is mouthing already. She says God is testing her. :)  Mom is first on the list for a private room, so as soon as one opens up, she'll be moved.
Dr. Goswami anticipates that Mom will be discharged Friday morning. Keep your fingers crossed; WE'RE READY TO GET OUT OF HERE!! :)
-Jenn