More Insight

Waiting for pre-op

The girls and I were in the car and driving to Seattle at 5:20 this morning. I was surprised all of us stayed awake for the entire drive. Check in went smoothly and all of the staff were amazing; so adept at letting the patient dictate the pace! Evelyn tried hard to steal the show with her big cheeks, bright eyes, and radiant smile but Anellah's sparkle didn't let Evelyn take over entirely. I was surprised that Evelyn and I were invited right into the Operating Room where Anellah's 30-something surfer anesthesiologist agreed with Anellah that she could stay awake the whole time and cheered her on as she struggled to keep her eyes open while the anesthetic took over.

Evelyn and I left to get some shut-eye for her and breakfast for me. I intended to do a bit of reading and walk out to the car but I had hardly started eating when my pager went off calling me back to the waiting area, the doctor was already done! Her doctor was pleased to have visualized much better findings than had been expected. He treated a few of the varices (bulged vessels) and noted that they were all in the esophagus (which is better than in the stomach). Whereas he went into the procedure considering not if but what type of surgery would be needed in the future, he came out of the procedure with the opinion that surgery may not be necessary! He explained that if other vessels in Anellah's body around her spine, kidneys, and belly button open up to relieve pressure as the ones in the esophagus did that will be the body's way of doing what a surgical stent would do. I questioned the safety of letting this happen and he informed me that it is entirely safe. He also explained that her liver is currently functioning well, it just does not allow blood flow through it very easily but as long as some blood is still flowing through it and the rest of the blood is naturally rerouted around the body Anellah will be safe.

We discussed what may have happened last month and we came to the conclusion that it may have been related to a viral illness. While Anellah was in the hospital in Spokane she became very sick with vomiting and diarrhea which stumped the doctors who did not expect this reaction after the procedure. Today's doctor and I put it together that perhaps she was starting to get sick on Christmas day, this illness irritated the esophagus causing the rupture of the weakened vessel in her esophagus and the bleeding she experienced. The life-threatening side effect distracted us from the fact that she had a virus just like a lot of other people have been getting this winter.

As far as long term outcomes, they are looking much BRIGHTER than they were. She will have another endoscopy (the same procedure she had today) in about one month. The findings of that procedure will determine when she will have another procedure, if they have not returned then surgery may not be necessary because it means her body is accomodating this higher pressure. Although surgery is still a possibility it is not necessarily inevitable and the discussion of transplant has moved to the bottom of the list.

I will see Anellah soon, she is still in recovery and I am hopefully that God's peace is surrounding her so that she feels calm and is not agitated as she normally is when waking up from anesthesia. Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers. I believe God had His hand on this little girl and perhaps the reason the results today were so different than 13 days ago was because of His healing.