In My Shoes: All Well Planned Events......

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

All Well Planned Events......

Fiona has been in the hospital since Monday. She finally got a room tonight to needless to say we are exhausted. ER is NOT a fun place to be for hours and hours. She went in with severe back pain and very bloody stools. The CT showed an inflamed liver and the colon was full. They did an endoscopy and sigmoid today (gee Fiona, you having fun yet?) Fiona was told they didn't find anything but the nurse, once she got a room, said they found something and that she is NPO tonight because she has another procedure tomorrow but she didn't know what it was.....ummm.....we are in the dark here folks. And to top it off she was put in a room with the most beautiful little old lady who is deafer than a stone and very non-compliant. They have a private nurse with the lady who is trying to keep her happy, in bed and quiet. Fiona might have a trying night. Will post more when I know more. I'm Mom, last to know here.

Of course driving into the ER Monday morning the car got hit by a piece of someone's hood. I was lucky enough to dodge it so it didn't go through the windshield but the bumper didn't fair too well. Oh well, that is another day. Right now I'm going to sleep!! Haven't slept in 2 days. I'm tired.

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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.