Hi All, [Wednesday, February 7, 2007] I'm afraid the news is not so good. The PET scan clearly indicates that the tumor has infiltrated her heart. Fortunatly, the PET scan also shows that no other organs are compromised -- this is very good news indeed, as this means that the mass has not spread. The current strategy is to proceed with chemo therapy in the hope that as the tumor is dissolved, the heart will heal in it's wake. There is a Cardio Thoracic Surgeon (and full team) on call just in case hope is thwarted. Dr. Lill, the doctor assigned to Shelsi, said that he has never seen this kind of tumor penetrate the heart, which IMHO speaks of exceptional thoroughness -- thank God they checked, even though doing so could have been deemed unwarranted! Chemo has already started, and as a result Shelsi is "pretty out of it" because of all the drugs she was given to support her through the ordeal. This all follows a rough night for Shelsi. She didn't get much sleep because each slip into slumber was surrendered to the cacophony of alarms, set off by the dangerously low heart rate that would soon follow. The doctors are taking this very seriously. Not 15 minutes goes by before Shelsi receives another visit by some member of the medical staff, and all means are in place to closely monitor her progress. All that is left is for you all to continue your deep heart felt prayers [Sheri and the families sincerely thank you]. Shelsi is currently at Cedars Sinai Medical Center at Los Angeles, in the Saperstein Critical Care Unit room 5S62 (see Map or Directions) --Steve |