In My Shoes: Tests Tests and More TESTS

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Tests Tests and More TESTS

The tests have been ordered and Fiona is doing 2-4 tests a day. We are going to the hospital multiple times a day but in a week and a half they will all be done. Then we wait for the results, insurance tx approval and then they will make an appointment for us at the tx center.

This is much more stressful than I thought it would be. Fiona and I are really stressed out. It is crazy how it all accumulates and hits you at once. It will be great when this phase is over. The tx center eval will be the next really big stressful time in our lives and hopefully we get positive results this time.

On the healthy front, Fiona continues to cough up blood daily now. It is just specks so she isn't losing a lot. Her ultrasound sound today of her abdomen showed HUGE varices in the spleen. I could tell they have gotten bigger. Otherwise, we are trying to stay busy and crashing when we aren't busy.

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Biliary Atresia

Biliary atresia is a condition in which the ducts that carry bile from the liver to the gallbladder and small intestine are not normal. These ducts can be injured, blocked, or missing. When the ducts that carry bile out of the liver are closed, bile backs up and damages liver tissue. In time the liver can develop scarring or cirrhosis. The gallbladder may also be abnormal or missing. The cause of Biliary Atresia is unknown. It occurs in one infant in every 15,000 live births. It is a serious disease which requires immediate surgical and medical treatment.

Arteriovenous Malformations AVMS

I have been diagnosed with AVMS in my lungs do to my liver disease. These have caused me to have 2 lung bleeds which were very scary. I still have more AVMS and they are causing me breathing problems. Below is an explanation of what the AVMs are and a picture of what is happening in my lungs.

Arteries and veins are part of the human cardiovascular system. Normally, the arteries in the vascular system carry oxygen-rich blood at a relatively high pressure. Structurally, arteries divide and sub-divide repeatedly, eventually forming a sponge-like capillary bed. Blood moves through the capillaries, giving up oxygen and taking up waste products from the surrounding cells. Capillaries successively join together, one upon the other, to form the veins that carry blood away at a relatively low pressure. The heart acts to pump blood from the low pressure veins to the high pressure arteries.
If the capillary bed is thought of as a sponge, then an AVM is the rough equivalent of jamming a tangle of flexible soda straws from artery to vein through that sponge. On arteriogram films AVM formation often resemble a tangle of spaghetti noodles. This tangle of blood vessels forms a relatively direct connection between high pressure arteries and low pressure veins.
The result is a collection of blood vessels with abnormal connections and no capillaries. This collection, often called a nidus, can be extremely fragile and prone to bleeding.