Hello friends, been well Ava's been struggling with pain and discomfort for a few days. Wednesday she had an ultrasound to see if the fluid was back. She was right it was.
Thursday morning I called the doctor (University of Iowa children's hospital) and they added her on to their schedule. Her doctor did another paracentesis, or an abdominal tap, this is a procedure that removes ascites (build-up of fluid) from her abdomen (belly). The fluid buildup is called ascites. They did the last one last Wednesday the 22nd and pulled out 650 cc's of fluid. Crazy thing was nothing grew on the cultures and it wasn't infected. She only felt relief from the pressure for 2 days. It's been getting very uncomfortable for her.
They drained the fluid at around 4:40 Thursday. They left a drain in place to see if the fluid stops. If it doesn't they will have to do things to stop it. We stayed the night. I will have to learn how to take care of the site and measure the fluid in the drain. They will test (cell count) of the fluid to see if it is lymnthatic fluid. The doctors are not sure exactly what this could be. It isn't presenting like a usual lymnthatic malformation. Her doctor wants to leave the drain in for about a week to see if it produces a lot of fluid. There are procedures they can do through her drain to help seal off the cavity if it is a lymnthatic problem. He said he had to poke it three times to get in... it's like super elastic.
Ava is always throwing us rare things. I guess she thinks the doctors need to see the unusual medical mysteries. If you follow the blog you will know what I mean!
I won't let her go to school with this in. It's in a very low area and the drain is huge. (But we will see.) She will have to do her work at home for at least another week.
She is doing so well. She's so strong and wasn't afraid a bit. This time they did have to intubate her and sedate her heavily but she did fine. She was very tired and very confused. She kept asking us why she was in a different room and was it all over. She pulled my hair and said mom you have curls. They are so pretty. Did you curl your hair this morning? And Then she says... what is so sparkly and it's so shiny them she pulled my necklace. I asked her if she remembered why I wore it? Nope! (She of course knows.) I wear it whenever she goes to the doctor, has a procedure or operation. I also added a charm with all three girls is hearts to represent my love for them. I don't believe in Good luck. I believe in God's faith!
We should be getting out sometime today. We slept for about 2 hours then she wanted food so I went to get McDonalds at 3:30 am. She had not eaten in almost 2 days.
Please pray all goes well. We need answers. She can only have Tylenol and Ibuprofen so pray this will help her. We appreciate the prayers. -Terri
Thursday morning I called the doctor (University of Iowa children's hospital) and they added her on to their schedule. Her doctor did another paracentesis, or an abdominal tap, this is a procedure that removes ascites (build-up of fluid) from her abdomen (belly). The fluid buildup is called ascites. They did the last one last Wednesday the 22nd and pulled out 650 cc's of fluid. Crazy thing was nothing grew on the cultures and it wasn't infected. She only felt relief from the pressure for 2 days. It's been getting very uncomfortable for her.
Ava is always throwing us rare things. I guess she thinks the doctors need to see the unusual medical mysteries. If you follow the blog you will know what I mean!
I won't let her go to school with this in. It's in a very low area and the drain is huge. (But we will see.) She will have to do her work at home for at least another week.
She is doing so well. She's so strong and wasn't afraid a bit. This time they did have to intubate her and sedate her heavily but she did fine. She was very tired and very confused. She kept asking us why she was in a different room and was it all over. She pulled my hair and said mom you have curls. They are so pretty. Did you curl your hair this morning? And Then she says... what is so sparkly and it's so shiny them she pulled my necklace. I asked her if she remembered why I wore it? Nope! (She of course knows.) I wear it whenever she goes to the doctor, has a procedure or operation. I also added a charm with all three girls is hearts to represent my love for them. I don't believe in Good luck. I believe in God's faith!
We should be getting out sometime today. We slept for about 2 hours then she wanted food so I went to get McDonalds at 3:30 am. She had not eaten in almost 2 days.
Please pray all goes well. We need answers. She can only have Tylenol and Ibuprofen so pray this will help her. We appreciate the prayers. -Terri
1 comment:
Poor Ava! I hope you get some answers soon.
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