A Special Celebration and then Tests tomorrow

Dad was out and about for awhile today. He attended worship service this morning and then Jared's Eagle Scout Court of Honor in the afternoon. He still isn't feeling great - still having some nausea even with medicine to help with it. He stayed in tonight - as he told a lady at church this morning - to study for his test tomorrow.

He will be having an ERCP test tomorrow to check his duct work (ha) for any narrowing due to scar tissue or other causes. He isn't too excited about this but he should be asleep during the whole procedure. It is supposed to be an outpatient procedure. The procedure is at 2:00 and should take under an hour we are told.

Here is a picture from this afternoon. I'll update when we get home tomorrow evening with any news.

Biopsy Results

Dad's biopsy came back fine - no signs of rejection. However, his numbers are still somewhat elevated so the doctors will be running another test next week sometime. They will check his bile duct to make sure that it isn't narrowing. I believe this will also be an outpatient procedure.

Liver Biopsy

Dad and Mom are headed to Cleveland tonight. Dad has an outpatient liver biopsy scheduled for tomorrow morning at 7:15. They will stay at a friend's home in Amherst tonight and finish the drive in the morning. On Monday when the labwork came back some of the liver numbers were high. The doctor wanted them repeated on Wednesday with the agreement that if they were worse they would do a biopsy Thursday or Friday. The results today were mixed - some better some worse. The biopsy will show if there is a rejection issue and then the doctors can adjust the medicines to treat it. Dad has still been dealing with some nausea but has been feeling better until the last couple of days. He doesn't let it keep him in though. He has been attending church services, doing heart rehab and going to the boys basketball games. I'll update again later tomorrow when we hear the results and have a plan of action.

Back in Findlay

Dad got home this evening. He looks and acts great! Mom said he even drove part of the way home - the last hour or so. The doctors have taken him off several medicines and it seems to have worked so far. He is to have his labs taken twice a week for the first two weeks home just to keep a close eye on his kidney and liver levels as well as the amount of anti-rejection medicine in his system. He will go back to Cleveland for a routine check-up in six weeks.

Encouraging News

Mom just called and said that the liver surgeon (Dr. Kelly - she is one of Dad's favs) had been in. They have taken Dad off one of the medicines that causes several of the worst side-effects. They are moving him to the transplant floor (now that a bed is available). He will probably stay in the hospital until Thursday, however they are going to take him off the IV fluids and see how he does. I know this doesn't sound so great but they are finally keeping him long enough to figure all this out instead of rehydrating him and sending him home only to have him end up back at the hospital on IV fluids again.

Also his liver numbers are better so they will not be doing a biopsy at this time.

Not today.

Dad's Prograf (anti-rejection med) levels are now too low. They are going to raise his dose a little and lower the dose of the other anti-rejection med and see if that works better for him. So that means at least one more day in Cleveland.

Dad has an appointment with a local gastroenterologist on Tuesday and they are praying that they will be home so that they don't miss that appointment. This doctor is very well respected and is difficult to get into. They are hoping that he can help Dad manage some of the side effects, especially the dehydration issue.

Please pray that the doctors can find the right combination of medicine this time so that Dad will feel better and that he will be able to make his appointment in Findlay on Tuesday.

This whole process has been amazing and frustrating but we know that your prayers have helped us through - Thanks!

And Back to Cleveland again.. .

It seems there is a pattern to these posts. Cleveland, home, Cleveland, home, Vanderbilt, home, Cleveland, . . . we are still getting more time at home than in the hospitals which is good. It is tough on Dad and Mom though. It gets discouraging.

From what I can see Dad is still heading in the right direction just not as quickly as he had hoped. It seems that most of his problems are due to medicine doses, side effects or a combination of the two. His anti-rejection medicine level has been running high and that seems to cause some shaking and just a general "I just don't feel well". It also affects his kidney function. The doctors asked them to come up to Cleveland to have an ultrasound and possibly a liver biopsy. They have decided not to do the biopsy and we don't have the results from the ultrasound back yet. The doctors that rounded this morning were saying that they would probably release Dad tomorrow. His kidney functions and liver numbers are improved, so we will see.