Raimi's Updates

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8/27/2025 8:00 AM Virtual 2nd Opinion at University of Michigan Thoracic Surgery Department with Dr. Ekeke, who has an impressive CV!

NEXT STEPS: Get Referral from Dr. French and fax it to 734-936-6927.

PRO TIP: Call any health system you would like to be a part of and tell them what you want! I called the U of M Cancer Center number that came up on Google and they transferred me to the right people and gave me direct numbers! Best 10 minutes spent in decades!

8/20/2025 We had an appointment at Oakland Macomb Cancer Specialists with Mohammad Mobayed, MD. He confirmed that she has Stage 4 lung cancer as the PET Scan shows it is in both lungs but there was not enough tissue in the biopsy to get a full DNA test so he drew blood, with the hope that the cancer has shed enough DNA into her blood stream to find the correct chemotherapy to start treatment. Unfortunately she has to wait about 2 weeks to get these results back. He prescribed some cough syrup with pain medicine as her cough is severe and she has some chest wall pain from one of the tumors.

NEXT STEPS: Follow up Appointment on 9/4/2025 to discuss DNA Results

PRO TIP: Put all of your Scans, Labs, Reports, Orders, Doctor Information and Current Medication in a Binder and take it to ALL APPOINTMENTS! Consider adding copies of Medical Cards, IDs, and Health History to sometimes avoid tedious paperwork! It helps your family too!

8/19/2025 PET Scan at University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center (Appointment Time 8:20 Wait Time >5 min) after Samantha went above and beyond getting us in before the Oncologist appointment! We learned that you spend most of your time waiting for the Barium to absorb (1 hour) and then get the scan done in about 20 minutes! The staff was AMAZING and the drink umbrellas gave us a good laugh! Thanks Radiology Paul!

PRO TIP: Ask for a PHYSICAL COPY OF ALL IMAGING to take with you! Your doctor likes to see the images themselves! Print out the report when it hits your portal and put it in your binder!

8/16/2025 MRI at Corewell Royal Oak (Appointment Time 3:50 Wait Time 1 hour 30 min) during Dream Cruise. I understand that it was a Saturday appointment but we had to check into EAST registration, walk to SOUTH registration, call EAST registration to tell them we were there because the Kiosks were down and then WAIT. When they did come to get Raimi, eventually, they got her changed and then made her sit ALONE in the back, for over an hour. No one responded to her cries for help. They even posted a sign to contact them if you had to wait and it didn’t have contact information. The tech was rude and lied about our arrival time. I would never go back by choice.

PRO TIP: NEVER leave your family member. If asked, they need assistance.

8/12/2025 Pulmonology Appointment with Dr. Fadi Alkhankan at Pulmonary Allergy Critical Care Sleep Associates (PACCSA) He is the same doctor that did the biopsy and confirmed she has Severe Asthma, COPD and sent her home with a Sleep Study. He ordered an MRI and a PET scan that did not get scheduled with Corewell Health System until daily calls were made. Corewell couldn’t get her in for a PET Scan before her oncology appointment so we chose to go with U of M. When she called to cancel the appointment, they didn’t have her on the schedule. They called her on 8/20 finally to reschedule.

NEXT STEPS: Follow-up on Sleep Machine

RECOMMENDATION: ANYONE WITH ASTHMA or that SMOKES should have a PULMINOLOGIST or AT LEAST YEARLY IMAGING

PRO TIP: ALWAYS get a paper copy of any order for lab work or imaging. Call every day to follow up!

8/11/2025 Biopsy at McLaren Oakland performed by Dr. Fadi Alkhankan. He said he is 100% confident that Raimi has at least Stage 3 Lung Cancer and that he didn’t need the biopsy results, as he has performed this procedure over 50,000 times. He is also confident that it can be treated and she will beat this! It is classified as Stage 3 because it has invaded her lymph node. We had to wait a ridiculous amount of time after she was told she had cancer and discharge orders appeared in the portal. We are lucky no one got arrested!