The Gun Counter

Hi everyone.

We have not posted much over the last week or so but there has been significant changes.

On Monday night (July 25) Dawn’s chest cavity reached a critical stage for fluid fullness. In consultation with one of her Miami doctors, I took her down to Miami for emergency admission to a hospital with a fabulous thoracic department. The goal was to get her some immediate attention and relief, then to get a more permanent solution.

She had been doing well on 2 liters of supplemental oxygen. When we left for Miami, I had it jacked upto 4 liters and she was still having trouble. This was a big part of the reason for our trip. Once in the hospital, they did their best to drain off excess fluid with chemical means and that helped a little. I am sure it also helped that she felt a bit more secure surrounded by medical professionals. In the morning she was seen by a thoracic specialist who evaluated her for the permanent option. He scheduled her for Wednesday and told us she seemed like a good candidate, but there was no way to know for sure until he looked inside. At 5PM she went to surgery. At 6PM he came out and told me the talc addition to her chest cavity looked like a great success and she should be doing well after a few days. Of course she would need a few weeks to completely heal and might get completely off oxygen in a month or so.

While here, we asked to get a liver panel done as her last one showed quite high. They did it as part of her post op blood draws. I relayed the data to the Oncologist and he said they were even HIGHER then before and I noticed a slight yellow cast in the whites of her eyes. UH OH. More tests.

She then had an inability to void her bladder and fairly low production of urine over the next 24 hours.
More tests.

The good news; the surgery on the chest cavity seems to be doing great. The fluid draining is dropping dramatically. Her oxygen saturation is now between 99-100, at 3 liters and they are likely to lower that soon to 2.5 liters. The doctor will probably remove the drains tomorrow. Victory for the thoracic surgeon.
Bad news, she may have a tumor blocking one of her bile ducts. That will cause the jaundice look and can cause chaos with the kidneys and urine production. The post-surgery antibiotic can also cause short term kidney issues. An MRI has been done of the liver and kidneys. We expect to have some preliminary discussions on that tonight or tomorrow. Depending on what the issue is, there may be a small surgical procedure on Monday to unblock the bile duct. At this point we have no idea. Only concern.

Please pray.