In My Shoes: Home Sweet Home

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Home Sweet Home

Fiona was released yesterday and we spend over 3 hours on the freeway trying to get back home because of the accident on the freeway in the morning. But she is home and feeling a lot better. They have figured out the problem and have a better treatment plan in place which makes it all worthwhile! Answers are always appreciated in this house.

Good news is the liver numbers returned to her normal. Everything calmed down and I just can't tell you how much better she feels.

On the biopsy front, she sees the eye doctor this coming Wednesday and starts the experimental drug the same day. So everything is on track! She WILL NOT reschedule her teeth cleaning until after the biopsy. Every time she schedules it, she gets sick or is in the hospital the day it is scheduled so we are of the belief that it is the dentist behind all of these problems! :) Okay maybe that is not true but it's our story and we are sticking to it!

The big news on the hospital front is the NEW hospital opens this coming Tuesday. Everyone is so excited and I tell you we can't wait. Fiona had the possessed hospital bed this time, which would move up and down all by itself, but usually she gets the room with the broken TV. So all new equipment, private rooms with private bathrooms..........almost made her wait a week before taking her in....that was a really hard decision.....sick/new hospital.....um....you know a MOM has to consider everything before making a decision. OK, kid won out. DARN! :)

Peggy

P.S. We do not go to the same facility has the Octomom!

No comments:

Post a Comment

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.