Today has been difficult for Mark. He started feeling pretty bad late last night and early this morning. Mark went to dialysis around 7:30 this morning. While he was receiving dialysis, he started having rigors and became very nauseous. It was then that the Team decided that the catheter used for dialysis had to be removed. Using the catheter for dialysis seemed to exacerbate Mark's symptoms. I guess this served as proof that the infection had contaminated the catheter. So, the catheter was removed late this afternoon. We were very nervous about the removal of the catheter. However, after its removal, Mark said it wasn't as bad as he had anticipated. The plan now is to wait and see how Mark's blood work looks after having the catheter removed and receiving the IV antibiotics. Hopefully, Mark's white blood cell count will continue to drop. This would mean that we could go home with an antibiotic to help fight the infection. As we mentioned in an earlier post, there is some concern about the presence of an abscess around the hernia repair site. If Mark's blood work does not show improvement, the Team will have to consider something more invasive (i.e. sampling the fluid around the hernia repair site or surgery to reopen the hernia repair site to remove any abscess).
Mark will have another catheter placed in his chest on Wednesday. When Mark had the catheter placed in June, it was painful and nerve wracking. The catheter is "tunneled" down next to patient's heart. The patient is given some type of sedative, but is not under general anesthesia. Mark is not looking forward to this. Please pray for him-especially on Wednesday.
Despite not knowing what lies ahead, Mark and I are trying to stay positive. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Mark is the strongest and bravest man I know. He has been through a great deal. I admire his strength. We spent some time this evening reading Paul's letter to the Thessalonian church...it gave us comfort to see how other believers have dealt with affliction and suffering. We studied the definition of endure...the Greek word translated for endure is anecho which means "to patiently wait." We know that God gives inner strength to the believer to enable him to be steadfast, to patiently wait in the midst of difficult circumstances. We are just praying for that inner strength!!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Be strong in the Lord and be of good courage. You both are strong and it is very clear where your faith lies. We are praying for you both.
Love,
Kelly
We are praying for both of you and your families. You both are the strongest people we know. Please let us know if there is anything we can do. Tell your mom we are here to help with school if they need it. I take and pick Makayla up everyday. Hope you get to come home soon.
Matt and Michelle Fox
Just know that you all have many people beside you praying that God will give you the strength for each day and for the healing there!
The more obstacles come ...and you endure..the stronger you will be to fight..Praying that God will lift you up in HIs arms ..let Him do the work!
Love,
Jane & Tom Cawood
hi kelly! i just came across your blog and had NO idea you were going through such a terrible ordeal! i am so sorry. if you need anything, please let me know. kevin, my husband is a gi doctor, so if he can help at all, please let me know. he did most of his training at uk, so he knows a lot of the drs there...if there is anything. i will keep you and mark in my prayers. hang in there, your faith will get you both through.
I found your post really interesting and it has really improved my knowledge on the matter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyuUyN5RVTI
Post a Comment