update from hospital

update from hospital

Update June 10th 7:06 P.M.

Hi; Linda will be in the hospital overnight tonight as the medical team is still discussing how best to intervene. The liver values from the tests now reflect congestion with no viral abnormalities so extreme as to create her current problems. However, the heart tests today suggest heart involvement with valve leakage ( which contributes to the liver congestion ). So, we are back where we started, with the team looking at the heart as the prime cause of her difficulties. Her surgeon plans to meet with her this evening, or tomorrow, to review the Cardiologist's and liver specialist's findings and to contribute his own perspective as to potential benefits associated with surgical intervention. Linda has been through a lot and the lack of clarity, in regard to causation related to her condition, has been hard on her. She did not sleep well last night and was hopeful that she would not have to stay the night in the hospital ,but, I guess the medical team wants to keep her close ,after all she went through today and yesterday, and they may want to do even more tonight in terms of assessment.

I learned today that folks are having difficulty writing comments in response to the information on the blog. Just write an e-mail to linda and I'll see that she gets it. Her e-mail address is, lhill1950@gmail.com. Thanks, again, for your interest and concern. John

Linda update-Wednesday 2:20 pm

Hey All! Just got a call from my dad who is with mom at the hospital. So, nothing is definitive yet. The doctors haven't made any decisions about surgery, and the test results this morning from her liver biopsey were inconclusive. They're going to run some more tests this afternoon, thank you for your concern. I'll post something as soon as I hear anything more. 

Mandy

Update June 9th 7:20 p.m.

Hi all; Linda had a liver biopsey and heart valve test today. Results of the biopsey will not be known until tomorrow, at the earliest. The heart valve test was inconclusive, as values derived from the test could not account for how ill Linda is. An echocardiogram will be conducted tomorrow and, after the liver biopsey results are known, we will know next steps for her treatment. The current hunch is that her liver is the prime, probable cause of her diffficulties. There may be liver enlargement and dysfunction from a viral infection, something Linda experienced in the past But the doctors want to wait for the biopsey and echo results before determining a course of treatment or intervention. Linda is resting well after a long day. She entered the hospital at 10:30 a.m., the procedures started at noon and she was out of recovery by 4:00p.m. and in her hospital room by6:15 this evening. So, nothing conclusive as yet. I'll send more tomorrow after we know a little more. Thank you, for you care and concern. John

Tuesday am

John is taking me to Stanford at 10 this morning for my heart and liver testing via angiogram. Hopefully, we will have a decision made by this evening or least tomorrow morning about whether to go ahead with cardiac surgery on Friday morning. I am relieved to finally be down here and get started with this process. I think the doctor plans to keep me overnight at the hospital for observation and an early am appointment with another specialist. I will ask Mandy to publish a post once we know anything.

Mandy's Surgery

After waiting for almost 3 hours yesterday, Mandy finally went in for shoulder surgery at ST. Mary's in San Fransicso. After an hour, Dr. Wolf came out and said he only did exploratory surgery. He said that he did not see the damage to the tendon that he expected from his earlier physical exam, and decided not to cut the tendon. He felt she would be better served to do some intensive physical exercise to strengthen the muscles around her right shoulder joint, and other joints where she is experiencing this loose joint problem. She only has one small incision on her shoulder from which she should heal quickly. When we get home, she will get started with a physical therapist, then a trainer at our local health club to work on strengthening the upper body muscles that support her shoulder, so she will be able to resume normal activities by fall.
So good news overall.