Posted 8/9/2012 7:32 AM (GMT -5)
Good morning all,
I wish I had good news to report, however I don't. Her hepatologist visited with me prior to her endoscope procedure yesterday afternoon and told me if she had a bleed in her esophagus, it could be banded to stop the bleeding, however if she had a gastric bleed there was little they could do. After the procedure we were saddened to learn that her stomach was full of blood, which she had to suction out. After the drainage she found a huge clot in her stomach with blood seeping from it. She tried to break the clot up but Janie began to vomit blood so she had to stop. She will try again this morning to try to break the clot in hopes the varicie will form a small clot and stop bleeding. She says the only treatment for this would be a TIPS procedure, however after conferring with other members of her team they came to the conclusion that in doing so her sick liver would probably fail completely.
She received four units of blood and platelets yesterday before I left to go home to get some rest, but she continues to seep blood.
Her pulmonologist says the fluid in her body is being reduced, however the fluid in her lungs has not improved. Both of her arms have been wrapped as the skin has opened with fluid seeping from the tears.
I am afraid that shortly I will have to make the decision to stop treatment.........this really sucks
She does have a living will on file in which she says that if there is no hope, she doesn't want to be kept alive on a machine. In the past we have had many discussions regarding this and I know this would be what she would want.
I will keep you informed as to how the procedure today turns out.
.....When we arrived early yesterday morning the nurse had stopped the propofol, after about an hr she was able to open her eyes. When asked if she was in pain she shook her head no. This small gesture certainly made us feel a little better knowing she was not suffering. She then began to chew on the tubes, so they had to start sedation again.
Charlie