So we have some news for everyone....
- Gina finished her last radiation to her leg yesterday and is also done with radiation to neck/back area. (Yeah!)
- After talking to Dr Schwartz and Dr Olopade, we have been told there is a doctor friend/associate of Dr Schwartz at the University of Chicago Medical Center that may be able to help with liver and both lungs.
- Gina and I met with Dr. Salama at UCMC on Friday, 06/05/09 for a consultation and were glad to hear that Gina can have surgery called radio-static surgery to lungs and liver that has @ 80% chance to get rid of these tumors.
- I placed a link for radio-static surgery. In a nutshell, it is basically a very concentrated dose of radiation to specific location of body. The dose is calculated and very precise to give maximum results. There are possible side effects such as ulcers, pneumonia in lung(s) and a possible lung collapse. After talking to Dr Salama, he stated Gina has an air pocket in one of her lungs that the tumor is pressing against. This means, it is possible that the lung could collapse once that tumor is radiated and was compared to ripping a band aid off wound causing it to bleed. The doctor did say that he has done many, many of these procedures and UCMC has been performing them successfully sine 2004! amazing.
- We went back to UCMC on Monday, 06/08/09 and Gina was marked and measured for surgery - she had tattoos marked for reference points instead of marker lines and said they really hurt. Gina will hopefully start the radiation (radio-static) in next couple of weeks. We have been told that Gina will probably have three doses to liver and five or six doses to lungs. More on this when we talk to doctor.
- Other than that, Gina is doing well but very tired. Of course, it has been almost two years since treatments have begun so who wouldn't be tired?!?
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