Wednesday, August 4, 2010

And the ride continues...

So sorry for the lapse in updates. The last few days have been (again) a little difficult. Juliet's blood cultures are still negative, however she now has a new issue. Yesterday morning they discovered an unusual bit of air? on her morning x-ray. They watched it closely all day, wondered if it was normal gas in her intestine, got an ultrasound to look closer, and then determined there was an abcess on her liver. The doctors aren't sure how long it has been there, but agreed to just keep "watching it". By yesterday evening and into today, the size and shape of the "blurb" on the x-ray continued to change and grow. It is now quite substantial in size. This afternoon, they put some contrast liquid into her stomach and watched as it travelled into her intestines. What we now know is that the air/"blurb" is NOT gas in the intestine - but the doctors still aren't sure exactly what it is.

Now, the problems are - what is going on in her abdomen and how do we fix it? The team is still trying VERY hard to avoid surgery. With Juliet still on the jet ventilator and still so small, it would be a VERY risky surgery. The current plan is just to x-ray her often and watch her clinical stability. Any major changes to either of those things may result in an unavoidable surgery.

Tomorrow morning I will meet with the surgeon and her neonatologist to determine the next step. I really hope it's not surgery. (I'll keep you posted)

1 comment:

  1. Sorry to hear the disappointing news. I was hoping that your roller coaster ride would be coming to an end and things would get back to normal for you all. Hopefully, the doctors will be able to determine the problem and get it fixed easily. Know that we are here with you and hoping and praying for the best. Poor little Juliet has been through so much already and so have you all. We will continue to pray for all good things to happen and for strength for you. Thanks for keeping us updated. Take care.....love and hugs.

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