Doctor Paul, MD

A small-town doctor working to preserve the art of old-fashioned primary care.

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Echo – negligible effusion

September 7, 2019 by Paul Williams 9 Comments

Father, thank you for your continued blessings. We have grateful for the time you have given us, what you are teaching us, and for your continued presence. Thank you all for walking with us in this journey.

Life got so busy this past week that I didn’t get to update the blog and for that I am sorry.

Theresa has had two relatively good weeks. She doesn’t feel the cancer is winning anymore. Early on before she started chemo in March, she felt consumed by the cancer, unable to get enough sleep and no energy to do anything. Then about the time she was admitted for the infected port, she felt her struggle was more with the side effects of the chemo and didn’t feel the cancer had the upper hand. Then on coming home from the hospital, her fight was a slow and up hill battle from being knocked down by the infection. But in July she was beginning to fight the cancer again. She felt it pulling her down again and her cough became more and more frequent. Since starting the two prostate cancer medications, she feels that her fight is not as much the cancer now, but the inflammation around her heart and lymph nodes and the fluid in her lungs. So the best we can say is that she is stable.

She has been frustrated with the prednisone. We tried to go down on the dose, but her chest pain becomes unbearable, so we are stuck at a pretty high dose for now. Her face is swollen, as is the area around her eyes. The fluid around her lungs cause irritation to her diaphragm which is probably part of the reason for the cough, but she also has some fluid in the lungs. I think the lymph nodes draining the lungs are clogged with cancer, as we saw in the PET scan, so the production of the fluid by the cancer is faster than the ability to drain it. We have had more than a few nights of limited sleep from all the coughing. We would ask for prayer to reduce the cough.

Theresa had her Echo on Thursday. the fluid around her heart hasn’t returned, which is good. Though now it looks like part of the pericardium is scarred to the heart from the pericarditis she has been struggling with. So she is cleared to go on our trip to Disney. One more milestone God has allowed us to get to.

God is at work teaching us and molding us in this process. We have no choice but to learn perseverance, endurance, learning how to survive the ups and downs of the cancer roller coaster. He has taught us to enjoy today. Plan for tomorrow but live for today. Though the plans are always “if the Lord allows it in His will for us”. He is teaching us to rest in Him. He is showing us how His church, His children, support, encourage and lift each other up; how we do this Love. We have been blessed, amazed, humbled by the outpouring of love from you and from our LORD.

Psalms 91:14-16 MSG
“If you’ll hold on to me for dear life,” says God,
“I’ll get you out of any trouble.
I’ll give you the best of care
if you’ll only get to know and trust me.
Call me and I’ll answer, be at your side in bad times;
I’ll rescue you, then throw you a party.
I’ll give you a long life,
give you a long drink of salvation!”

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Filed Under: Breast Cancer - our new normal

Comments

  1. Candace Horch says

    September 7, 2019 at 7:56 pm

    Our prayers are for your trip to be all you hope it to be, and that the cough will subside so rest and good sleep is forthcoming! Also, of course, we are praying for miraculous healing and that God will continue to walk you all through this storm! Thank you for the timely updates so that we can pray accordingly.

    Reply
  2. Tim kinder says

    September 8, 2019 at 12:52 pm

    May God continue to bless your family my friend

    Reply
  3. Glenn Palmer says

    September 9, 2019 at 5:10 pm

    Praying for relief from the cough and that your trip is fantastic!

    Reply
  4. Sherrie Conrad says

    September 10, 2019 at 12:22 am

    Praying for sweet rest, for the cough to lessen or leave, & for a fabulous family trip packed with sweet memories.

    Reply
  5. Debbie O’Connor says

    September 10, 2019 at 5:35 pm

    I’m so grateful Theresa is somewhat stable and that she is cleared to go to Disney. I’m praying about the cough and overall healing. God bless you all. ❤️

    Reply
  6. Christina Frias says

    September 10, 2019 at 7:51 pm

    Praying you have a wonderful vacation full of amazing memories ❤️

    Reply
  7. Priscilla Christenson says

    September 10, 2019 at 11:27 pm

    Bless your time together and praying for rest from the coughing. ❤️

    Reply
  8. LaVerne Haslett says

    September 17, 2019 at 5:12 pm

    Prayers for your trip…God’s grace to cover you like a canopy….meeting your every need!

    Reply
  9. Vivian says

    September 18, 2019 at 7:07 pm

    Dr. Paul and Theresa,

    Thank you for continuing to share your journey, which has given me hope amid a challenging year for my family. Your blog has reminded me to be grateful and graceful. The world needs more positive energy, and your family has done so, and I am glad to pass this onto others.

    Reply

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About Doctor Paul

Dr. Paul Williams, MD is a small-town family practice doctor working in Centralia, Washington. He works from the same office where his primary care practice was established by his father over 38 years ago. He believes strongly that the art of the old-fashioned primary care doctor is an important feature of our medical system that should be preserved and protected from excess interference from insurance companies and government regulation alike.

Due to changes in the health care industry and regulations affecting it, and in an effort to preserve the art of old-fashioned primary care, Dr. Paul has shifted his practice to a Direct Care model, meaning that patients pay an affordable monthly fee to purchase primary care health care services directly, rather than having their services billed through an insurance company.

This blog is intended to help Dr. Paul's patients (and anyone else!) understand the changes the medical industry is going through, and to provide information about the Direct Care model of primary care.

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