We were recently admitted back to MUSC to what started off as a simple procedure Jasmine needed to have on her nephrostomy tube that is located in her right kidney. When we arrived they prepared her for surgery and thankfully took some labs before heading into surgery. This is when they discovered that Jasmine's calcium was extremely high. Now her calcium has been fluctuating up and down for the past couple of weeks but there was no worry because with medication it was controlled.
Our doctors here at MUSC did not want her to go through with this procedure until her calcium was controlled. They felt that admitting her to the ICU would be best because they can give her the best attention to get this controlled. While here they also decided to do a Cat Scan (CT Scan) of her belly because she has been suffering from constipation so they wanted to make sure we weren't missing anything.
The results came very sudden and surprising to us. It looks like her tumor has grown and the chemo protocol she has been on is not working anymore. The tumor has built an immunity to the chemo drugs. Also it has now spread to her lungs. So we have hit round two.
The game plan now is Jasmine will enter a experimental trial where they will take slides of her tumor and study them and decide on the best drug combination that will get rid of this particular tumor. While the trial is being done Jasmine will start radiation therapy to help shrink the tumor down as much as possible. If Jasmine happens to get really sick and we cannot wait for the results from the trial the doctors have 2 back up plans of chemo drug protocols we can start using and once they get her stable again then we can consider the experimental trial again.
But for right now we will continue with the experimental trial and radiation therapy. She will be having surgery biopsy on May 9th where they will take a piece of tumor to study. After she recovers from surgery they will proceed with the radiation therapy.
Right now Jasmine is stable. Though they found lung nodules her lungs are doing great. She is in no risk of needing a breathing tube or breathing device of any kind. She's on pain medication for her tummy cramps but she is still responsive, watching The Fresh Beat Band and drinking lots of water! We are certainly not where we were in the ICU back in DC. We definitely caught this in time!
We are not looking at this as bad news because 1) they have options 2) we caught this in time and the doctors are aggressively finding the best option for her and 3) bad news would be if the doctors told us there is nothing we can do....We have a game plan and we are not giving up! God has performed many miracles on Jasmine and I know he will continue to do so. This is all in the plans he has for her...her story does not end here...God has bigger plans for her in the future! Staying strong, keeping the faith and knowing God is always healing and protecting her!
Psalm 91:9-12 NIV
"If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone."
