Another long day at the Maz. Today some fresh new hurdles arose to be crossed. First this morning the heart mate monitor showed an increase in watts drawn and the litres per minute numbers doubled, the pump guy was called in and he said it was an indication that there might be a clot in the pump. He started her on a heparin drip to thin down the blood some, but all day the pump was the same until tonight it started to read more normally again, so we didn't know when we left whether they were satisfied that the clot had been cleared up or not. The other bad news is that her bilirubin number keeps on going up. It shot up after her episode last Thursday and has been climbing ever since. As most of you know, in babies that is very important number to watch, as it can lead to brain damage in infants. In adults it is not so much so, some liver cancer patients are not only yellow, but green, yet they remain clear and cognizant through it all. The liver is a very forgiving organ and can rejuvenate itself completely. ( A living donor liver is sometimes used, a third of the liver is removed and installed in a recipient, yet 3 months later donor and recipient have full size livers again, imagine that.) Nevertheless Andrea is still very sick and vulnerable to setbacks which would not ordinarily be a big problem, but in her weak and sickened state are quite big. Every day we hope for some big changes, her breathing tube stayed in, although she has made very good progress since last Thursday's setback lung wise, her blood pressure and heart rate have also stabilized. I hope you don't read out of my comments that she needs a liver transplant, nobody has even mentioned it, I just added that info for your interest. Time for some shut eye.
Goodnight, Maynard
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