meggles42's Notizen, 22 Okt 16

I called my doc on Tuesday 10/18 because I've been getting really short of breath lately for no good reason - I can normally walk a few blocks or go up a few flights of stairs no problem, but lately I've had to stop to catch my breath after even one flight of stairs.

My PCP didn't have an appointment I could make, so they sent me to the ER. At the ER, they found a heart murmur, did a chest xray and found extra water around my lungs that was causing me to be short of breath, so they admitted me to try to drain some of the fluid off. They tried to do it via thoracentesis (with a needle) the next day, but somehow the fluid had run away! They started my on water pills to get some of the fluid out that way.

So I was there until Friday night while the cardiologists and the endocrinologists and eventually the oncologists tried to figure out what was the root of the problem. My other symptoms included diarrhea (since Decemer 2015, but controlled by Immodium), occasionally flushing/hot flashes (no, not early menopause, as it turns out). Turns out all of these, along with valve damage on the right side of the heart, are part of "carcinoid syndrome" and I have a carcinoid tumor in my small intestine. It has spread to my liver - the doc who tried to do the thoracentesis noticed the spots on the ultrasound. They did a full liver and abdomen MRI to find the tumor and confirmed it with a 24-hour urine test.

But, it might not be as bad as it sounds - the carcinoid is weird compared to most cancers and metastases don't necessarily mean it's an aggressive tumor. So they did a biopsy on one of the liver spots to find out if it's a slow carcinoid (common) or a fast one (rare). If it's a slow one, I get a shot once a month for the rest of my life to stop it's growth and a scan every 6 months to make sure it hasn't changed. If it's a fast one, chemo for me. I should find out Thursday or Friday.

All that to explain the rapid weight loss - it's all fluid. They told me I probably have another 10 pounds of fluid to lost in the next week.

104,7 kg Bisher verloren: 8,4 kg.    Still to go: 32,1 kg.    Diät befolgt: Recht gut.

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1928 kcal

Fett: 60,11g | Eiw: 58,57g | Kohlh: 302,56g.   Frühstück: Kroger 1/2% Lowfat Milk, Kroger Raisin Bran Cereal, Larabar Apple Pie. Mittagessen: Amy's Organic Low Fat Minestrone Soup, Navels Oranges. Abendessen: Salt, Kroger Tater Rounds Potato Nuggets, Butter (Salted), Egg, Water, Stash Lemon Ginger Caffeine Free Herbal Tea, Kroger Orange Juice with Calcium. Snacks/Sonstiges: Publix Red Seedless Grapes, Kroger Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Italia Bakery Panini. mehr...