So, I need to stop trying to diagnose Marye when she has various symptoms. In my last post, I knew she was sick, but I thought that her symptoms were from a stomach virus. This is why I'm not a doctor. I took her to the hospital with a 102.6 degree fever and vomitting. When we got to the ER, her heart rate was racing-- 150 bpm. So they hooked her up to the EKG and found her heart was ok (no heart attack), but they were worried about it and her fever. She was also very dehydrated and her white blood cell count was slightly elevated.
To make a long story short, she has the symptoms of an infection, but they don't know where it is. The theory is that the stent is either irritated or infected. Against her wishes, they admitted her to the ICU to keep her on fluids and antibiotics. On Friday morning, her GP came in and was talking about doing another ERCP to look at the stent. Well, I figured that Dr. Vitale put the stent in, and he's the expert in the biliary tract, so I told the GP that Marye should probably go back to Norton Hospital. He agreed.
Friday night, she was transferred to Norton and Dr. Vitale and his minions all came in to check on her. I was impressed that they were there so late. Anyway, they said that they'll continue to treat her for an infection of unknown origin and it they can avoid going back down her throat, they will. But if she doesn't improve, they'll go back in and check her out. If the stent gets infected, that's considered an emergency, so they'll do it even if it's the weekend. One good piece of news: her bilirubin (bile levels) are down, so the stent is still allowing the ducts to drain.
So, as of Saturday, 1:30 pm, she's resting at Norton. I talked to her this morning and she ate some lunch and is feeling a little better. Maybe the antibiotics are working. Oh yeah, Marye's mother Doris came up from Nashville yesterday, and I took her over to see Marye. Doris has been really worried since this whole thing started, so I asked her to come up for a few days.
Anyway, I'll be checking in with Marye here in a little while. I don't know when she'll be discharged. I'm sure the doctors want to see her infection symptoms go away and see if her appetite will hold up. I'll keep updating this when I learn something new and get a little time.
-Chris
