7/14/05 7:15 am
Just a quick update on Aunt Jay's condition.

The hospital has begun running tests and have had some complications, of course. In the ER they found an abnormal EKG and have determined that she has decreased blood flow in her heart. So they haven't really done much with that yet.

The other issue is that her hemoglobin went from 10 to 8 from Sunday to Tues. They have given her 2 pints of blood. The GI dr. wants to see if she is bleeding in her GI track. So they tried to do a bowel prep for a colonoscopy and she wouldn't drink the GoLitely (it's a gallon of the liquid), but they did give her the laxatives. They also took a scope down her throat today and found 2 ulcers and a hernia in her stomach and throat. The GI dr. said that we can't do the colonoscopy unless she gets the golitely and we would have to force her (tube up the nose into the stomach). We haven't made that decision yet. I am not sure that if we found any cancer if we would put her through treatment. Joan and I are going to ask her what she wants to do.

The cardiologists gave the go-ahead for the GI workup to see about the bleeding before they do anything to check on the heart. They may do a catherization to see where the blockage is and how much it is blocked. Haven't heard from them.

The main Dr. (D) said that they found a 6-7cm size growth on/near her thyroid which is pressing on her throat causing her not to want to eat/swallow. Still waiting on info on that and what they are going to do for her about the growth.

The other thing is that damned old ulcer on her right foot. There are a few issues with that. 1). decreased circulation getting to her foot. It may be just from poor circulation in general caused by the blockages in the heart or it may just be vascular disease of the leg. It seems the blockage is in the calf area. 2). She is not eating/drinking which isn't getting her immune system pumped up to fight the infection of the foot. So they feel there are a couple of factors affecting her foot.

The foot dr. thinks that they may be able to put a stint in her leg artery to open up the calf artery, but of course it has to be in conjunction with the cardiologist and the new vascular surgeon (yet to be named). Of course the biggest issue with this is that the leg/foot is causing her alot of pain. To her, this is the biggest issue and she is not really feeling that there is anything else wrong with her.

Will keep you posted on the progress.

Love to all,
Mary