Ok, this morning Marye had another ERCP to replace the stent she had put in last month. The theory was that this stent was the source of her persistant infections. Anyway, Dr. Vitale found the stent in position, but removed it anyway and put in two stents side-by-side. This will keep the duct open even more and over a longer reach.
She was done with the procedure in about 90 minutes and has been sleeping ever since. My concern was that she will get another bout of pancreatitis like she did the last time, but the doctor said that was less likely, since it's usually the first ERCP that irritates the most, and he didn't even approach the pancreatic duct this time. So we're crossing our fingers.
Anyway, the stents are in and she's still receiving antibiotics for her blood infection. Another thing he told me was that the bacteria they found in her blood is not usually from the gall bladder or bile duct, but more often results from a picc line or port. Since she has neither of those, it's likely a result of all the IVs and blood draws she's been getting. So the infection may persist, or it may never come back again. And we may never know the cause of it. But she's been stuck so many times in the last month that I imagine she'll be at risk without some good antibiotics.
Ok, back to our story: I don't know how long she'll be in the hospital, but the next step is to get the core biopsy on the tumor. This might happen on Monday, but since it's a holiday, more likely Tuesday. I'll keep everyone posted when I find out.
Bottom line: she's feeling drowsy but better. The ERCP was a success and she should be able to eat more substantially soon. BTW, YouTube has a bunch of videos demonstrating the ERCP, including this one, showing the deployment of a metallic stent and the bile draining. Marye's stent is plastic, but they may go to a metal one eventually.
-Chris
