I wanted to update you on things. We are still in the hospital. Yesterday (Thursday), we got the orders for discharge Friday morning (today)....obviously this has not happened.

After surgery, Lucy's belly became very distended and has been like that for the past 10 days or so. Looks like her belly is about to pop - it is beyond me how her stitches have not come out. Anyway, yesterday she had a CAT scan. This showed that her small and large intestines are humming along beautifully, there are no twists or lesions or abcesses, and that there is no obstruction or excess gas. The CAT scan did show that there was a lot of fluid in her abdominal cavity. Then they performed another procedure (name escapes me) in the IR (Interventional Radiology) where the doctors insert a tiny needle into her belly, and drain off some of the fluid in there to be cultured (she was fully under while this was being done). The doctors are in agreeement that the fluid is probably a result of swelling after surgery - her surgery was very long, and quite complicated and the fluid is just taking a LONG time to absorb. At least this is the theory duJour.

To complicate things, she spiked a fever of 101+ Wednesday night, which disappeared in the morning. Last night, the fever re-appeared and is lingering today. SO, she had a chest x-ray this morning, and is off for another abdominal x-ray at the moment. They have taken urine cultures, and will take a blood sample again today (this is all a repeat of what was done on Wednesday). The nurse has taken out her IV and disconnected her TPN (nutrition) and has given us the go-ahead to eat solid food. I am not sure when they are going to take the PICC line out, but all signs point to soon (yeah!). But still no answer.

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Well, the previous update was typed this morning. Now for the latest newsflash.

The Doctors are baffled. They cannot figure out why this fluid is taking so long to absorb. So the new plan of action is to try another angle prior to testing the abdominal fluid again. I am not even going to begin to try and explain this because I am still trying to understand it myself. Anyway, her pic line is out, and she will have an IV put in AGAIN in about a half an hour. They will then treat her for a urinary tract infection via IV. The IV will also serve it purpose tomorrow when she goes back to IR to have the fluid in her belly drained and re-tested. She has to drink milkshakes tonight (to try and provoke a more defininte diagnosis, if there is one - again, long story), so that is not so bad. They will leave a drain in so that she can have some relief.

If the fluid is just ascites, then we will probably go home in a few days. If it is not, then we will be here a couple of more weeks.

Send some prayers!~

Love,
The C's