http://health.stateuniversity.com/pages/1511/Thoracentesis.html
Monday, November 9, 2009
New stuff
So a week ago I found blood in my urine. A little freaky since you're not supposed to have blood in your urine. This coupled with some recent stomach pains led me to call the doctor and find out what to do. He recommend moving up my scheduled scans by three weeks so we could further investigate. We did a full CT scan from neck to knees. The scan did not show anything in the pelvic area where we thought there might be issues, and I have not seen any additional blood since the first occurrence, so good news, but we don't know what caused the occurrence the first time. The scan also showed some small shrinkage in the cancer in my lungs, nothing significant, but smaller is better than bigger. The scan also showed a significant increase in fluids in my chest. These fluids can be created by movement of the cancer cells. The increase in fluids puts pressure on the lungs and makes it difficult to breath causing shortness of breath. I have been experiencing shortness of breath, so no surprise that we found this. The procedure to remove these excess fluids is called "Thoracentesis", and basically involves jamming a large needle into the space between the ribs and the lungs and extracting the extra fluids. The doctor said there could be as much as 3 liters of fluids in there. Removing these fluids would relieve the pressure on my lungs and improve my ability to breath. Long story short, I am getting this procedure done on Wednesday afternoon. It is an outpatient procedure and requires only a local anesthetic for the pain. You can find more information on this procedure at this link:
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5 comments:
Well, I'm glad it's something that can be fixed and will help you feel better. We have you in our prayers. Good luck!
Thank you for keeping us updated. We pray for you regularly. rochelle
We'll be thinking of you and praying for you! Good luck on Wed. We love you!
Britt
I remember now that Collin had Pleural Effusion after his heart surguries. I don't recall the exact reason for the leaking fluids, but it was amazing all that was extracted! They used a tube that came out on the left side of his torso. Then a suringe was used to draw out all the fluids. The fluid was milky looking. Interesting how fast his stats improved afterward.
Hoping all goes well for you Eric.
We love you!
Britt
Here it is Wednesday and Julie finally helpled me get on line with a laptop computer. I feel so lost without conatact....Thanks for letting us know ahead of time about today's happenings. We love you, Eric, and certainly hope that all goes well with the proceedure today. By the way, our love extends to MOnica and the kids, too.
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