A day of procedures

Last week was a busy week.  Lots going on with Luca - mostly good things.  To start off the week, she had a CT angio and EGD (endoscopy) under sedation.  Her procedure times kept getting pushed back, so we did a lot of waiting around and roaming the halls trying to entertain L.  Clearly, it was getting old.  L and Ian were none too thrilled.  She was hungry (not having been allowed to eat or drink that day).

Finally, it was time.  They gave her some medicine to make her loopy, and that she was.  She was totally stoned.  It is hilarious to see.  They (thank God) were able to get an IV on the second try.  The sedation nurse joked that she now has bragging rights for getting an IV in Luca.  We all said a little thank you prayer after they got it in.  Then, they gave her the big meds and out she went in Ian's lap.  Ian climbed out from under her and we gave her a kiss and waited outside.  Scope first, CT angio second.

Scope showed nothing alarming and showed no signs of varices (wonderful news).  He did find that L has some candida in her esophagus, likely from recent antibiotic use.  She just finished a week of anti-fungal meds so hopefully that has cleared things up.  She will get a repeat scope in about 2-3 months.

CT angio showed enlarged spleen, which we already knew.  It also showed that all the vessels are open, great news.  Finally, it showed some minor varices (I am waiting for the report to find out where) but none that were concerning.

All of these results just confirm what we already knew - that Luca has mild portal hypertension.  With all of the results back, we are pretty relieved that things are not worse.

After all of the procedures, we went back to see her and she was still snoozing, even though the sedation meds were turned off for awhile.  She was just exhausted from the day.  When she woke up, she was ready to eat and drink and get the heck out of there!

Long day, mostly good news.  Glad we have awhile to go before another one of these days.