First part of today was good for Anne. Her head is back and alert, her eyes clear, her sense of humor is returned, and she is up and around just a little bit more. She rode a recumbant bike today in the gym at Springbrook, and the PT said she's doing so much better. She still needs help to get up out of her seat, and she cannot freely walk.
Anne's been eating better for the past 2 days too. She hadn't asked for any pain meds since we got her off the oxycotton, that's until tonight after supper. I'm certain she had one or two too many bites of the chicken lo mein served for supper. At least she had the appetite, and she enjoyed it.
I'm very sad though to let you know that we got some bad news from Dr. Steinbrecher tonight around 5pm. Right now, when we're thinking Anne is on the mend, she was weighed and then we learned she's only lost one pound of the body fluid all this week while taking the dieuretics. They're not doing the trick, and her body cannot seem to shed the fluid, or should I say move it to where it needs to be, in her vascular system.
Her legs and feet are looking better and better, but all of the fluid we've been telling you about is still with her, problem being a lot of that is now in her mid section, near her abdomen and other organs.
With that, the Doctor said her liver is not able to make protien that her blood needs. She said her organs are struggling with the fluid surrounding them. She reiterated, it's a very serious situation.
The Doctor said that the cancer is complicating matters. She warned that when esophageal cancer returns, that it's dangerous.
She also said with this fluid around her abdomen (Anne's tummy is very tender) there is always an increased risk of infection. Also that the fluid could affect her lungs.
All this news threw us for a loop, and we were somewhat shocked for a time. I asked Anne if she feels the cancer, and she responded, "I feel the pain." This girl has been thru hell and back the past 2 years, and is in the fight of her life right now, however she still has never complained and she is somewhat at peace with it all.
The plan is to enhance the dieuretics over this weekend with the additional one that was being used at Maine Med 2 weeks ago. They'll start the new one in the morning (it's a once a day med), and set up a catheter to make it easier on Anne to pee. We hope and pray that her body responds so it can shed fluid this weekend. The Doctor will be back on Monday and we'll see where we are. We pray that her liver will then recover and be able to create the protein that her blood needs.
Thank you for your prayers everybody.
Friday, January 13, 2012
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