Though better, Lisa is still having "new" problems, so this morning we headed to the cancer center for more tests, followed by a visit with the oncologist. There's no blood clots in the area where Lisa was having such bad pain on Saturday on every inhale -- it was likely a "referred pain" from pressure on a nerve caused by her increased swelling. The increased swelling is accompanied by enlargement of some blood vessels as some of the main veins and arteries around the heart are getting "squeezed" by the tumors.
Tomorrow Lisa will be going for a hospital outpatient procedure to likely put in an SVC stent that will hold open the primary area that's getting squeezed. The stent itself is a wire mesh tube that is inserted while compressed and then expanded in place inside the vascular structure. This will potentially relieve a fair amount of Lisa's related symptoms within just a few days following the procedure. The procedure itself only takes an hour though Lisa will be at the hospital for several hours, but it is unlikely that she will have to stay overnight. She is expected to be well enough to take chemo the next day (Wednesday).
Tomorrow Lisa will be going for a hospital outpatient procedure to likely put in an SVC stent that will hold open the primary area that's getting squeezed. The stent itself is a wire mesh tube that is inserted while compressed and then expanded in place inside the vascular structure. This will potentially relieve a fair amount of Lisa's related symptoms within just a few days following the procedure. The procedure itself only takes an hour though Lisa will be at the hospital for several hours, but it is unlikely that she will have to stay overnight. She is expected to be well enough to take chemo the next day (Wednesday).
