In My Shoes: Claremont Courier - Story of a wonderful doctor

Friday, October 17, 2008

Claremont Courier - Story of a wonderful doctor

In our local newspaper from this week, there is an article about an Upland doctor who participated in the Doctor without borders program in Kenya working with patients with TB and HIV/AIDS. His name is Dr. Desmond Sjauwfoekloy. This man is very special to our family as he was the first doctor that diagnosed Fiona's lung problems AND understood the seriousness of what was happening. He ordered her immediate lung surgery and helped the other doctors to realize her coughing up blood wasn't just a "cold." Dr. Sjauwfoekloy is a very compassionate man who gives us faith in the medical system that there are still doctors out there that care and are willing to look beyond the obvious and do what is right for a patient. I am trying to find the article on line so I can post a link. He is a wonderful man and I just want to say THANK YOU.
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.