I'm going to try and cut down on the # of emails/texts/phone calls and keep all the updates about Karee's progress in one handy dandy spot, and here it is! Tell anyone who might be interested in keeping up to check out this blog.
If you didn't get the update I sent out yesterday, here it is. After this, it is likely that the next update will be dinner time or after today/tonight. Thanks for all your support everyone!
So, here's the update from the day (Wed, 4/26)...
The procedure was not what we had hoped it would be. They were going to go in to her left airway and see what the blockage was - if it was mucous, they were going to break it up and suck it out. If the air tube was being constricted from the outside, they were going to both poke a needle through the airway and biopsy the tissue on the other side. They were also going to do an ultrasound to get lots and lots of data about what's around the airway.
BUT...
She has a 'tracheal stenosis' which is a narrowing of the trachea, about 3cm below her vocal folds. The trachea should be ~25mm across, but this narrow passage is down to 8 or 9 mm across. So, the scope itself being 6mm basically cut off her air supply. So they couldn't spend significant time down there doing work. They would go down for a few seconds, take some pictures and then come back up so she could breathe. It was disappointing, but it's still good information that they need.
So, while the doctors were deciding what to do next, her attending physician ordered a PET scan, which is basically a cancer scan. Finally for some good news, the PET scan was negative. (insert large sigh of relief). And while not definitive, it's pretty unlikely that it's cancerous. So, that's VERY good news!
The thoracic surgeon was here just a minute ago, and Karee is going to have another procedure tomorrow at 3:30. They will put her out on full sedation, put a breathing tube down there, expand the narrowing so they can get all the tools down there that they need. They'll try and do what they set out to do today - clean it out if it's mucous, and likely take biopsies.
Since it's not cancerous, the doctors say it's likely some type of fungal growth/infection. They were using the word 'granulomas' so I'm sure I got the spelling wrong. They keep asking if she's spent time in lots of different exotic places, as these kind of fungi rarely happen in Denver. (They mentioned one physician friend picked one up when they were caving in Costa Rica...). I don't know what the treatment protocol is if it's one of these fungi.
They are still not ruling out a simple mucous plug, which they can clean out and let the lung go back to doing it's thing. Fixing the narrowing of the trachea is another thing - they don't know if it's a causal relationship one way or the other - the seem a little bit bamboozled by the whole thing.
Perhaps the funniest thing about the whole situation - the thoracic surgeon's name is Dr. Guber. Pronounced "Goober". Really.
Okay, I'm tired and I think I can stand down now. It's been a looooong darned day. thanks to all who have said they'd help out with kids and meals and such. It's very possible we'll be here through the weekend, although only time will tell... Special thanks to Dick Evans and Don W for coming and hanging out with me while waiting for Karee to be done with her procedure. Also, thanks to Don for being a 2nd pair of ears, and a highly trained pair of ears at that, while I was being debriefed by the doctor...
All for now,
Steve
The procedure was not what we had hoped it would be. They were going to go in to her left airway and see what the blockage was - if it was mucous, they were going to break it up and suck it out. If the air tube was being constricted from the outside, they were going to both poke a needle through the airway and biopsy the tissue on the other side. They were also going to do an ultrasound to get lots and lots of data about what's around the airway.
BUT...
She has a 'tracheal stenosis' which is a narrowing of the trachea, about 3cm below her vocal folds. The trachea should be ~25mm across, but this narrow passage is down to 8 or 9 mm across. So, the scope itself being 6mm basically cut off her air supply. So they couldn't spend significant time down there doing work. They would go down for a few seconds, take some pictures and then come back up so she could breathe. It was disappointing, but it's still good information that they need.
So, while the doctors were deciding what to do next, her attending physician ordered a PET scan, which is basically a cancer scan. Finally for some good news, the PET scan was negative. (insert large sigh of relief). And while not definitive, it's pretty unlikely that it's cancerous. So, that's VERY good news!
The thoracic surgeon was here just a minute ago, and Karee is going to have another procedure tomorrow at 3:30. They will put her out on full sedation, put a breathing tube down there, expand the narrowing so they can get all the tools down there that they need. They'll try and do what they set out to do today - clean it out if it's mucous, and likely take biopsies.
Since it's not cancerous, the doctors say it's likely some type of fungal growth/infection. They were using the word 'granulomas' so I'm sure I got the spelling wrong. They keep asking if she's spent time in lots of different exotic places, as these kind of fungi rarely happen in Denver. (They mentioned one physician friend picked one up when they were caving in Costa Rica...). I don't know what the treatment protocol is if it's one of these fungi.
They are still not ruling out a simple mucous plug, which they can clean out and let the lung go back to doing it's thing. Fixing the narrowing of the trachea is another thing - they don't know if it's a causal relationship one way or the other - the seem a little bit bamboozled by the whole thing.
Perhaps the funniest thing about the whole situation - the thoracic surgeon's name is Dr. Guber. Pronounced "Goober". Really.
Okay, I'm tired and I think I can stand down now. It's been a looooong darned day. thanks to all who have said they'd help out with kids and meals and such. It's very possible we'll be here through the weekend, although only time will tell... Special thanks to Dick Evans and Don W for coming and hanging out with me while waiting for Karee to be done with her procedure. Also, thanks to Don for being a 2nd pair of ears, and a highly trained pair of ears at that, while I was being debriefed by the doctor...
All for now,
Steve
We are all praying for you Karee. Lots of huggs & Kisses coming from Paris, Texas
ReplyDeleteHow about some of your students. Could they have been to any exotic locations lately?
ReplyDeleteDad...