Here's the breakdown of today's events.
There were decisions made today to help Scott that you should know about.
- He is getting a new feeding tube place tomorrow. Right now, he's got a feeding tube going up through his nose, which can be uncomfortable and I think can also get prone to infection. So, tomorrow, they are placing a new tube, using imaging/radiography, to place it directly into his small intestine (I believe, not his stomach - I will make sure). They will leave it in for 4-6 weeks, even if he doesn't need it so that a callus can form. That way when they take it out, there's no chance of leakage.
- They are going to be doing a trachestomy on Friday afternoon. I will be posting more on that after it happens.
- He had a blood patch done today. This is the first time I've mentioned this because it was something we weren't sure they would be doing or not. You can read more about it by clicking here. It went well and they said that it may or may not help, but there was really no harm in doing it.
- His MRI results showed some swelling of his brain stem. The neurosurgeons said that this is to be expected, but it's not the best thing to happen. They are doing everything they can to minimize this pressure, including giving him some more Mannitol . Just a side note here - they were giving him Mannitol quite a bit over a week ago and haven't really had to give him any since his LP last week. I had asked, 'if you know this drug really helps his brain swelling go down, why can't you give it ALL the time?'. Well, that's where the lovely PKD comes into play. They don't want to give him too much of anything that may damage his kidneys. Arghhh.....
- His CT scan from this morning showed a slight increase in swelling (yet another reason for the Mannitol) but I think this is to be expected. I remember the nurses telling us that it can be a roller coaster ride....lots of ups and downs.
Whew! American Idol is on and I'm going to go sit down with Farmer and try to relax for a bit. As always, more tomorrow. :)
~Betsy
