Wednesday 9th June 2010

Long distance news. Sally has returned home to Melbourne again. Helen had her CT Scans yesterday. The good news is - no actual evidence of tumour progression as in the cancer itself is no bigger and there are no new metastases to be seen. The fluid around the lung is still evident. The new bad thing is that she has large pulmonary emboli (clots) evident in the large vessels supplying both lungs. No actual lung infarction. This is due to the increased tendency for clotting in people with advanced cancer as well as to her relative immobility. It is something that could kill her quickly - sort of at any time - but I guess this has been on the cards for a while whether there was something abnormal seen on tests or not. On the other hand - it may not and it probably isn't affecting how she feels right now. If she gets more or they block of parts of her lung it will make her short of breath so for the time being the doctors are restarting her on preventative anticoagulation injections (she used to have these in hospital way back last year). Not too sure whether they'll suggest continuing with the chemo or not - a question for next week.

The other good news is she is being discharged today back to her house in The Gardens. She and Louis will be on their own there for a few days, then my cousin Jamie is visiting and then I will return next week. They will have twice daily carer/nursing visits and Louis says he is really happy with how they've set the house up for her to be in. Darwin friends planning to visit - call Louis if you like but I don't think they'll be going out much so I'd say you could just drop in. Interstate friends - the house is big and beautiful with lots of room and there are nearby hotels and things as well. I gather the Dry Season has come back while I've been away and it's a much more pleasant temperature now.