Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Re-Admitted to St Barnabas

Karen has been re-admitted to St. Barnabas due to an abscess on her liver. She's currently doing well.

It's been three weeks since surgery. In that time she has not had much of an appetite and her nausea has steadily increased. She spent much of the past week throwing up. This morning she had a scheduled CT scan and consultation with Dr Chamberlain (who has provided tremendous support to us in post-op).

The CT scan showed an almost fully regenerated cancer-free liver (a true medical miracle). However it also showed an abscess close to Karen's lung. As a result she was immediately admitted to hospital. This sucked as we weren't able to prep the kids and K didn't get to say goodbye to them. They're fine though.

Because the abscess was so close to her lungs, they didn't give anesthetic during the procedure as this would've impacted her breathing. So, lucky Karen had to suffer through the insertion of the drain "commando style". Very very painful.

Karen also has fluid in her lungs which is a minor cause for concern also. The team is monitoring this also.

In any case she's good now and will hopefully return home on Friday.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glad all went well,am praying for you guys!
hugs
Bea

kp said...

Good that they caught that. It's great that her liver is still cancer-free. Give Karen my love!

Anonymous said...

Ouch! I’m having sympathy pains and hope the now drained abscess offers some well earned relief to brave Karen.

Hold Fast & Slainte Mhath
Don MacLeod

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad she's still cancer - free!! I'm so sorry she had to go through such a painful experience. Everyone is pulling for her and she's in my thoughts and prayers!!!
Kristen Scarlett

John Howlett said...

Hi Fran, I'm really glad for you guys that they caught that abscess so early and that the procedure was sucessful and that Karen is doing well after it.
Great news that she's still cancer free.

Anonymous said...

Thank God you are onthe mend Karen. Ifeel so sorry for you having to go through more pain.It is great the cause of your nasuea and vomiting has been found and dealt with. Lovingly Jo (Limk.)

Anonymous said...

Hello,
We're really relieved to hear that Karen is still cancer-free; that's great news.
Here's to a swift recovery from this latest surgery.
Hope she returns home soon
Best wishes
Jacqui and Declan

Anonymous said...

Oh My dears Karen and Frances,

I was so scared of that abcess, it hurts like crazy. That is why I was hoping and praying to God that she does not get an infection. They did the same thing to my little sister as well. None of the doctors wanted to insert the tube because of where the abcess was located, thank God there was one brave and very SKILLED surgeon, God bless him that took a chance, if not it would have been surgery. She was up for the whole procedure, and there were 5 male doctors and assistants there, and they said she is the bravest girl in the world. I wish that none of you were this brave, I wish that no one would have to go through any of this, but thank God for miracles because they do happen all the time.

Get better soon Karen, your beautiful family probably misses you like crazy.

I wish that everyone dealing with this can overcome it and just live a normal, BORING UNEVENTFUL LIFE.

You are always in my thoughts and prayers. I checked your blog this morning at 4 am, and have been thinking of you all day.

Love and hugs,
Mirjana

As soon as they remove the tube you will feel so much releif.

That is why I hate when they send people home so soon after a surgery like this, and remove the draining tube way too early, that is a risk for infection right there. I know that it can happen if they leave it in for too long too, but I would rather be safe than sorry.

Thank God it is over with, I just wish you a speedy recovery.