Stent Replacement

Dear Faithful Readers, 


The following is a summary of the last few days.

Monday:

Liz went to USC to have her stent replaced before she starts chemo.  The original stent wouldn't survive the effects of chemo so they needed to replace the plastic temporary stent with a permanent one.  The procedure was supposed to be a simple endoscopic out-patient procedure.  

When they tried to go in endoscopically they ran into a blockage. Part of her small intestine had placed itself in the way of accessing the stent. 

The doctor made a plan to go a different route the following morning and kept Liz overnight so she would be there at the soonest moment they had available to do the alternate procedure.  

Tuesday:

The alternate procedure involved taking a needle and pushing it through her side. This needle pierced through her liver in order to get to the bile duct that needed replacing. When they were doing this procedure they found another bile duct was closing, so they inserted a second stent. 

The conclusion of the procedure resulted in her having two drains attached to those bile ducts on the outside of her body. One on each side of the abdomen. These drains will be removed within the next couple days. 

The procedure could have resulted in a bile duct bag, similar to a colostomy bag...but before going into the procedure Liz warned her doctor that she's getting married in a few days and a bile duct bag wouldn't match her dress.  So it appears he did his best to comply.  =)

Wednesday

Liz was supposed to start chemo on Wednesday.  At 5:30am I left my house to meet Noel at their apartment. By 6:15am we were out the door and at 8am we arrived at USC to pick up Liz and take her to her first chemo appointment.  At this point neither Noel or I were fully informed about what had taken place the day before, but were assured that she should still go to chemo. 

When we arrived Liz was getting ready to take a walk around the floor. She could barely talk to tell us what happened because breathing was incredibly painful. Her first appointment at the City of Hope was scheduled for 9am, and it didn't look like we'd make it since she hadn't been discharged yet. We asked Liz if the oncologist had weighed in on whether she should go to chemo and she said he had not been updated with the complications of the stent replacement. We were prepared to take her to City of Hope so they could advise in person what she should do, but Liz was positive she was in no shape to start chemo.

By 10:00am, they had given us the word that she was being discharged but we were still waiting for her discharge papers. While we waited I called the City of Hope and let them know she would be cancelling her appointment for that day.  I also let them know there were complications with her procedure and it would be great if her oncologist could review the situation with USC and call back with a recommendation for when to reschedule.  

We finally left the hospital for home at about 11:15am.  

Later in the afternoon her oncologist's office called to let Liz know they were in the process of contacting USC for information and would get back to her soon with a recommendation for when to schedule the next chemo appointment. 


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She's in good spirits. Tired of hospitals, but in good spirits. We chatted about wedding plans and birthday plans until the painkillers did their job and took her to a happy place. 

Your love and good wishes are keeping her strong, but so are happy stories and laughter.  Please keep them all coming.  If you have good news of your own to share, please comment here so she can read your happy thoughts and share in your joys.