In My Shoes: Glad to be home

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Glad to be home

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THERE IS NOTHING BETTER THAN BEING HOME
Fiona is home and we have a plan now for the chest pains. We understand better what is going on and what her options are to manage them while she waits for an eventual liver transplant. All the doctors were really sweet and worked very hard to get to the bottom of this problem that has gone on for many months.

Fiona had her MRA of the lungs today, though they argued with me saying it was of the heart. Fiona got there by ambulance, had to have an RN with her and then they all rode back ACROSS THE STREET again. So that little trip was about a $3000 trip, not counting the special radiologist that was called in, the MRA itself and whatever overhead charges there are. But at least it is done and on brief look there wasn't anything significantly wrong. Haven't heard the full report but will get that on the 20th unless someone calls us beforehand.

Peggy

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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.