 |
Elissa's Blog
Elissa Rose
1952 - 2005
Thursday, June 30th, 2005
1952 - 2005
| "I'm not sure where to begin. Sometime on Tuesday morning, Elissa's blood pressure dropped significantly and almost pushed her into cardiac arrest. She was moved to CCU (Coronary Care Unit), where she had a balloon pump to help her heart beat normally. As it turns out, she may have had cardiomyopathy which is a heart condition, that just hadn't presented itself yet. I guess one of the chemos she was on can contribute to this. Her EKG was completely normal before surgery, so this came completely out of left field. All through Wednesday she was in critical condition, but her blood pressure had started to rise, so we were hopeful. With a little luck, her heart might get its strength back. Her lungs had some fluid in them, which was a concern, but she had been given some medication to help with that, and if her blood pressure continued to rise, it would also help that situation. This morning however, her pressure began to drop steadily. Her heart just wasn't strong enough. The months of chemo and then the months of battling and stress over finally getting the surgery she so needed had just taken their toll. Without the surgery, she only would have had a month or so with us, and it would have been painful and full of emergency surgeries. It would not have been the kind of life should would have wanted to live. Even if she had known of the heart risk, I know she would have still gone through with the surgery. It gave her hope and a chance at a higher quality life. She was always a fighter. Elissa passed today at 12:50pm on Thursday, June 30th. She was comfortable, unaware and felt no pain. It was the peaceful passing that she deserved. Thank you so much to everyone who showed her love and support. It all meant so much to her, and it's meant so much to me. I've just been blown away by how many people out there cared for her so much. She was so lucky to have so many caring people in her life. She deserved it. ~~Jenn |
| Hi all...Jenn again.
Well, as scheduled, my mom (Elissa) went in for surgery at around 9:30am yesterday (Monday, 6/27/05). It was supposed to last anywhere from 3-5 hours. Dr. N. was extremely positive before things got started and told everyone not to worry. He's an amazing, drivin, dedicated human being, and refused to stop until he had done everything in his power he felt that he could do for her.
The surgery ended up lasting 12 1/2 hours. It was a long...long day. I don't know how much my mom would want me to write here...I'll give a brief summary of some of the things he had to do, and let her fill in more when she is able. The cancer was fairly widespread in her abdomen. The good news, is that it hadn't taken over the liver (there were some tumors on the surface that were easily removed, if I remember correctly) and wasn't on her lungs or anything like that. He did, however, end up having to remove her spleen (according to him, and my mom's brother, you don't really need those anyways), around 1/2 of her stomach (which, is around what is subtracted when people get their stomachs stabled for weight loss), and because of the extent of the tumors on the intestines and bowels, he had to do a colostomy (allthough, he is hopeful and feels if she responds well to chemo and is doing good, in a couple years he might be able to remove the colostomy). Like I said, they worked for 12 1/2 hours...so they got just about everything they could see.
They sent some tumors off that night to the clinic that tests them for chemo sensitivity. Hopefully, they will be able to find something that she is still sensitive to.
She is in ICU right now. She is comfortable. They have her sedated and on an epideral, so she doesn't feel any pain. She will be in ICU anywhere from 3-5 days...or more, depending on how she is doing, and if there are no complications. They expect her hospital stay to be around 2 weeks (if there are no complications).
I'll continue to update with any progress."
~~Jenn |
| "Hi everyone. My name is Jenn...I am Elissa's oldest daughter. I'm going to be updating the blog here while she is in the hospital, just to keep everyone posted.
Last night (Saturday) she was having really bad stomach pains, and her doctor told her to come into the hospital a day early. So, I went and picked her up and brought her down to the hospital. The doctor said her stomach pains were due to the fact that she had an empty stomach (for the surgery, she's been on a liquid diet the past two days) and the fluids in her abdomen were pushing on her stomach. Right now she is resting and on pain meds. The surgery is scheduled for tomorrow (Monday) morning at 8:30. I will try to update this thing as much as possible.
And I wanted to take the time to personally thank everyone for showing my mom and our family so much support. I'm truly blown away. Everyone has been so amazing these past weeks. My mom is lucky to have so many wonderful people in her life.
Thank you. ~~Jenn |
| I have been battling a lot of pain the past couple days but know it’s all going to be just fine soon. Tomorrow I start prepping for my surgery…eating bland foods, getting plenty of rest and making sure my head is in the right place. I am so looking forward to this surgery and to feeling better and enjoying quality of life again with my family and friends. My advice to all is….really think twice when choosing an insurance carrier. It could mean your life. I can’t tell you who to pick, but I can certainly tell you who not to pick!!! I love you all!!! ~~Elissa |
| Hello all, It's Tuesday evening. I am now home from the hospital. My protein level was way too low to do surgery and in order to do surgery and "heal" ones protein level must be high...so it's eating meats & lots and proteins for me for the next few days. They removed 3 1/2 quarts of fluid from my abdomen to make things more comfortable until the surgery. Most of my bodys protein was going into the fluid, so I was sent home to eat meats and try to build up my protein levels.
I go back into the hospital on Sunday morning and the surgery will now be Monday morning.
This doctor is unreal....everyone who works with him tells me the "hands of God enters this man when he does surgery! I believe this. I love him!" ~~Elissa |