I haven't got a whole lot to update ya'll on right now, but I'll tell you what I know.
Friday mom and I went to Omaha for my cholangiogram. This type of cholangiogram was done right to the liver instead of going up through the artery in the thigh. We had a long wait, but we met a lot of nice, really cool people. The Interventional Radiology center is really cool. You have a curtain in front of your "room" but there are walls on either side of you (keeps things a little more sound-proof). There's also a flatscreen plasma TV in every "room" and there are twinkling lights in the ceiling that look like stars. There's also a strip of blue light so that it lookes like twighlight. I tried to capture the veiw with the camera phone and I've attached the picture. It doesn't do the scene justice, but it will give you an idea.
I was put under general anesthesia with intubation and everything. The procedure lasted about an hour or so. When I woke up I was in a lot of pain, not to mention my throat felt awful after having the tube in it. I got some morphine for the pain, which helped. Before I knew it they were making me sit up in a recliner. I was very reluctant about everything. I was so drugged I was hardly conscious! It was a slow recovery, but I was able to go home that night.
It took a couple days to get all the drugs out of my system. They really do a number on me! But still, as far as pain goes, not a bad recovery. I haven't had to rely on anything stronger than Tylenol as long as I stay in bed for the most part.
The results of the tests were this: There were no obstructions in my bile ducts, though the ducts are very small, so bile flow is slow. Everything looked pretty consistent for a liver with cirrhosis.
This means that the bile ducts are not the problem, so it leaves the high bilirubin and jaundice unexplained for the most part. Still, I've been getting better bit by bit. I think getting off the birth control has really helped. My appetite is getting better, I have more energy and I don't look so yellow. Most importantly, I'm not in so much pain.
On Thurday all the liver doctors have their meeting and my test results will be discussed then. I should hear from them around that time about where we should go from here. They'll probably want me to get another blood test to see how my liver enzymes and bilirubin look after being off the birth control for about a week. I'll keep you all updated with what the doctors say.
Friday mom and I went to Omaha for my cholangiogram. This type of cholangiogram was done right to the liver instead of going up through the artery in the thigh. We had a long wait, but we met a lot of nice, really cool people. The Interventional Radiology center is really cool. You have a curtain in front of your "room" but there are walls on either side of you (keeps things a little more sound-proof). There's also a flatscreen plasma TV in every "room" and there are twinkling lights in the ceiling that look like stars. There's also a strip of blue light so that it lookes like twighlight. I tried to capture the veiw with the camera phone and I've attached the picture. It doesn't do the scene justice, but it will give you an idea.
I was put under general anesthesia with intubation and everything. The procedure lasted about an hour or so. When I woke up I was in a lot of pain, not to mention my throat felt awful after having the tube in it. I got some morphine for the pain, which helped. Before I knew it they were making me sit up in a recliner. I was very reluctant about everything. I was so drugged I was hardly conscious! It was a slow recovery, but I was able to go home that night.
It took a couple days to get all the drugs out of my system. They really do a number on me! But still, as far as pain goes, not a bad recovery. I haven't had to rely on anything stronger than Tylenol as long as I stay in bed for the most part.
The results of the tests were this: There were no obstructions in my bile ducts, though the ducts are very small, so bile flow is slow. Everything looked pretty consistent for a liver with cirrhosis.
This means that the bile ducts are not the problem, so it leaves the high bilirubin and jaundice unexplained for the most part. Still, I've been getting better bit by bit. I think getting off the birth control has really helped. My appetite is getting better, I have more energy and I don't look so yellow. Most importantly, I'm not in so much pain.
On Thurday all the liver doctors have their meeting and my test results will be discussed then. I should hear from them around that time about where we should go from here. They'll probably want me to get another blood test to see how my liver enzymes and bilirubin look after being off the birth control for about a week. I'll keep you all updated with what the doctors say.
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