It is Sunday evening here in Tijuana as I sit here in my little cottage trying to keep everything straight in my head. Lennie’s CAT scan revealed that the cancer has once again metastasized, this time to his liver and some lymph nodes on either side of his one ureter (the tube that drains urine from the kidney to his bladder) on the right side. A kidney function test yesterday (yes on Saturday) confirmed that his right kidney has shut down and is basically dead and there is no hope of saving it. Currently his left kidney is working at 82%. He will have to be taking care of that now for the rest of his life.
He has had 3 units of blood to try and bring up his hemoglobin to a level where he can tolerate the treatments that are planned for him. Every day he has been having huge bags of IV pre-digested food that look like either banana or vanilla milkshakes. They must be working because his weight is now up to 201 from the highest it was before we left last Sunday at 193. His color has obviously improved from the blood transfusions and he is up and walking. The day he got here he was in extreme pain and in a wheelchair as the trip had exhausted him.
Both his main doctor, Dr Vazquez and I had a stern talk with Lennie about getting his head around this bad news and acting a little more hopeful. The was the doctor put it was that he could take a patient that was not as bad as Lennie and give them the best care, but they would still die if that is what they believed in their mind. It seemed to sink in as he has started coming to the dining room for his meals instead of having all of them in his room. He also now ventures out in the evening and comes over to my little cottage to ‘hang out’ and spend the nights.
There are several other cancer patients here in various stages, with most being stage IV. Some are just coming in and others are leaving in a few days. The average stay here at the International Bio Care Hospital is 3 weeks. One couple left this morning after 3 weeks. She had come in with stage IV lung cancer and according to her husband looked 100% better than when she arrived. They left with their supply of treatment and supplements and are to come back in six months at which time the doctor stated that he expected the cancer to be gone. We have met people with bladder cancer that are back for their 6 month follow-up who have only a speck left. There is a man with a brain tumor who was supposed to die from it over 8 years ago. He comes here for a week or two of treatment every year to keep it dormant as it is in-operable. Another who is leaving tomorrow had a stroke and now looks the picture of health with no evidence of his stroke.
Right now we know that this is where we are supposed to be.
International Bio Care Hospital
Adios,
Kathryn
www.kathrynsmith.com