Deja Vu

Misty's back in the hospital again. This looks just like what she was facing back in January: her belly is swollen so big that she looks nine months pregnant, and she hasn't had a bowel movement in a week.

Since January, her abdominal swelling has come and gone several times--but not to this degree. So, when it started to swell almost two weeks ago we weren't that worried. We didn't want to go into the Parkland emergency room and face all that drama, so we put it off, hoping her body would once again take care of itself. After all, the only things that actually happened at the hospital last time were: abdominal x-rays and CT scans, several ineffective attempts at getting her bowels to move, pain management, and finally draining the fluid from her belly with a big needle. This time, we had the pain (mostly) under control, and we were trying everything to get her bowels working (really! everything! enemas, suppositories, laxitives, and even castor oil, and and old mexican home remedy involving garlic cloves). The only thing we couldn't do at home was stick the needle into her tummy and drain it. As her belly kept getting bigger, the pain increased.

We decided to call and talk to Misty's palliative care nurse and see if they could perform the paracentesis (that's doctor language for the thing with the needle in the tummy) in the oncology clinic without having to go through the ER. She recommended going to another hospital, Saint Paul, just down the street from Parkland where Misty's palliative care doctor also works. We got into St. Paul's ER at about 9:30 am today (Saturday...I guess it's Sunday now since it's after midnight) and they almost immediately took her into an exam room. We got her there just in time, because her pain started to spike shortly after we got there. We explained the situation, and got Misty some heavier pain killers in an IV. They told us that they can tap her belly if she gets admitted--they just didn't have those facilities in the ER--and while they're working on getting her admitted, they'd get started working on her bowels.

In addition to getting the pain under control and trying more laxitives, they also did an ultrasound in preparation for the paracentesis. Finally, at about 10:00 pm, Misty got admitted, and moved to a room. They'll drain her belly tomorrow.

And that's about all we know at this point.

This post wouldn't be complete unless I once again expressed my gratitude to all of you who are praying for Misty and our family. Thanks especially to those who of you who are watching out for the kiddos while I'm here with Misty in the hospital. Thanks also for helping me keep Misty company while enduring the ER today.

I'll put an update here tomorrow after the procedure...