Shana Bearden

Well Shana met with her oncologist today and got some not good news. The most recent chemo is not working and the tumor is growing. Of most concern is the fact that there are now some spots on her liver. We are going to try one or two new treatments and hope and pray that they work. If not, there is not much time left. The doctor offered to put her in hospice today but that would mean she could not take aggressive treatment. She told him a strong “No” and she wants to keep fighting. We need some super prayers that her new chemo do some good and attack the tumor. Tumors adapt to chemo and we hope that the new regimen will kill some tumor cells. We will have to just see.
Yesterday was very scary. When I woke Shana up, I was convinced that she had had a stroke. She was drooling, could not smile, her left side of her face was distended, she could not talk and was totally out of it. One of my first questions was whether she needed to go to the hospital and she squeezed my hand hard so we called Arlington paramedics who were wonderful. Once we were in the ambulance going to the hospital and I was helping the paramedic give her oxegin and making her try to respond to questions, he happened to notice that one of the blanks on his chart was not checked off. It was a suger test. He and everyone believed she had suffered a stroke but he said he should go ahead and test her suger before they got to the hospital. When he did she had a suger level of 27 which is lower than the suger level of Jeff McKim when he had his multiple strokes. We talked about it quickly and I gave an authorization to shoot her with glucose and it was miraculous. Within a minute of getting the suger shot, Shana came out of the coma and was asking what was going on and where was she? I don’t know who was more shocked, the paramedics or me. Apparently, she is getting too much insulin in her food at night and she had stopped drinking sweet tea the day before so her suger level dropped dramatically low. She seems to have fully recovered and I cannot thank the Arlington EMS paramedics enough for their help and professionalism. I can tell you one thing, I am getting too old for this type of excitement. Chrissy was a hero for staying on the line with 911 and feeding them info until they arrived at our house. She definantly helped Shana survive yesterday.
Next week or so, we will be going to New York for a consult with a oncologist who specializes in Peritoneal Mesothelioma. That is if Shana is able to get around well.
Please keep praying,
Jim