unclehobart
New Member
I got a call 2 days ago about a developing situation with my moms kid sister, auntie Deborah. Apparently she wasn't feeling well and went to the docs like 10 days ago for a physical. They did a blood count and it came out dangerously low. I'm no doc ... but I was told it was a 5 .. with somewhere around 15 being normal. She was given a unit of blood and a soft tissue exray. 'Something' was seen in her low abdomen and she was rushed to surgery. She is in the coastal city of Brunswick (50k pop). They have a nice modest hospital there... but nothing overly fantastic. They opened her up and found a huge mass attached to her uterus. It was over the top for their capabilities so she was sewn back up... 4 more units of blood. She was taken to Jacksonville, Florida (100ish miles south, 1 million pop) to a more capable hospital. There she was opened up again and they took a better look. The mass was determined to be 18cm with tendrils running about into her intestine and grazing one kidney. If it was just the simple mass they would have done a radical hysterectomy on the spot and been done with it. The connector through the intestine threw them for a loop. They had to study it and do a cancer biopsy to determine how much intestine they need to chop out... and also, if it is a cancer, they need to hit her with a little chemo and radiation before hand to shrink the mass and break the link to the kidney. The 'b' surgical team declared it to be beyond their capabilities as well and have called in the 'a' team. I was told that 8 specialists are zipping in from all over the region to either do the deed or observe as a major case for learning purpouses. They are also gathering enough blood to try and pull it off. They estimate it will take 10+ units since several major arteries are compromised. The whole family is steadily making the pilgrimage to visit with her. The weekend is already 'overbooked' as it were with her own kids and brothers and sisters. They only let 2 into the ICU rooms at a time and have scanty visiting hours. I will be a part of the second wave come monday or so with the grandparents wherin I willhave more time with her as well as extra time to get over this cold thats been dogging me all week. I dont know how long I will be gone... but I will probably stop off in Brunswick for a few days if naught for more than a simple family visit with my mom and the cousins... plus it wouldn't hurt to be that close just in case this shit turns sour and it becomes a funeral. So... Don't expect to hear much out of me in the upcoming week.
hope she gets better
