Thursday, February 12, 2009

Oncologist

We had the appointment with the gynecological oncologist yesterday. Man was she smart.

It was a pretty positive consult.

Our HR OBs are worried about 2 things: Erin's ability to carry the baby to 30 weeks and the surgery to get the baby and put Erin back together.

The oncologist is not terribly worried about the surgery. She also doesn't think that Erin will absolutely need to have a hysterectomy. Her key question was around what caused Erin to hemorrhage with Lauren. Once she heard how long Erin labored and pushed, she was satisfied that the cause of the hemorrhage was not some fundamental problem with Erin's uterus - just that the last time she labored too long and her uterus had no energy left to contract properly.

The oncologist will assist with the C-section. Her recommendation is to do a "conventional c-section". "Conventional" is the way they used to do it. Basically, they take the baby out from up high and leave the lower part of the uterus alone. She thinks the placenta will come out fine and if some of it is attached to the uterus and won't let go they can leave it in and it will die off naturally. If they run into trouble, she knows how to do a hysterectomy very quickly.

The oncologist's biggest concern is getting Erin to 30 weeks. Erin has to continue to be on strict bed rest and will be admitted to the hospital in 3-4 weeks for the final 8 weeks of the pregnancy. She said that because Erin is so good at following Dr's orders she has a good shot at success. She did say that lots of women go a bit crazy in the later stages of bed rest - especially when they are in the hospital. Erin is one tough cookie though, so we bet she does ok. It will be really hard on Lauren and me though not having her around. We'll visit a lot and my mother is planning on coming out to help.

13 comments:

  1. You are all tough and I know you will feed off the strength of each other, and your families.

    We love you and have all the faith in the world in your ability to come out of this healthy and happy!

    K, J and S

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  2. Fuzz and Erin, Sending many, many prayers your way. You guys are amazing!

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  3. Wow. Good to hear. Elise and would love to come out and help too if you would like. I can either bring the kids or not. Just want to know what would be best for you guys. Maybe a weekend in late feb early march?

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  4. Hey you know I will come over and play "detective" or whatever else we come up with any day of the week. xoxox N

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  5. Fuzzy - I have just read through all of this info....you are so amazing and I will keep you and the fam in my prayers. You are a strong bunch and I pray for happy times!

    S. Shami

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  6. Nothing but positive thoughts and hopes for a wonderful life coming at the Herrick family!

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  7. We’re hoping for the best and our family’s prayers are with you.

    Cheers,
    -jG

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  8. Mike and Erin,

    Thanks for the update. It's great to hear you've found a good, positive doctor for this experience. It helps. I will keep you all in my thoughts and prayers, and wish you the best of luck. Your abillity to persevere is really shining through. Stay strong, man.

    -George

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  9. Keep it up...y'all can do it. Just think of the day when Herricle is all grown up--it'll be quite the story.

    Glad to help if you want it...

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  10. We are here for whatever you guys need. I can stay with Lauren during days or overnights while she sleeps if you want to stay with Erin, whatever you need.

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  11. Oops, that anonymous overnight guest was me, Hannah.

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  12. Sounds like you've got the A-team on the case, which is good. Our family's thoughts and prayers are with you and yours. Hang in there!
    CMM (Red)

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