Hello Everyone :)
I hope you are having a great week. We are doing good over here :) Some have asked for an update on Allison and I heard from her doctor at the Mayo Clinic yesterday so I thought I would take this opportunity to update.
Allison is feeling better, much better than before her surgery. As the doctor had explained, she continues with back pain that ranges from tolerable to some days very painful. We are going to try and start journaling her activities to see if we can find a pattern to what may make her feel worse some days than others. Dr. Bjarnason had predicted a minimum of 6 weeks of pain due to the nerves surrounding her IVC being irritated from stretching the IVC back open. And nerves are difficult to get under control. So, we are just taking one day at a time. But as I said, she see's, as do I, great improvement from the leg pain and abdominal pain from before. God has blessed her so much. ;) :)
Dr. Bjarnason's assistant emailed me yesterday informing of our "next step" regarding this healing process for Allison. She is scheduled for another venogram at St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester, MN, on Thursday, July 30, 2009. We are to arrive in Rochester on Wednesday and she will have her procedure on Thursday. If all looks good then we can probably leave on Friday, July 31st. It just depends on what Dr. Bjarnason finds. His purpose is to see if the stents are where he placed them, to examine them for any "build up" that can occur on any stents in anyone, and see if the 4 inch area of the IVC behind her liver has opened back up to normal size. He felt, at the time, it was shrinking down due to lack of use because of the large clotted off are of the lower IVC. If it is still smaller than he likes then she will have another procedure to place more stents in. He is also going to examine the right renal vein that comes off the IVC. It was completely occluded (clotted off). The right kidney is working well due to collateral vessels that have grown off the clotted vein but it is still something that has to be monitored.
So, that is our update. Allison has registered for classes at a local community college and classes there begin August 19.
Thank you so much, once again (and I really cannot say it enough) for all the prayers that have been offered on our behalf. We KNOW and feel as though we have SEEN the power of prayer in all this.
Love to All....
Jennifer
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
May 7, 2009 Update
Hello...
Alot has been going on since my last update. We went to Tampa for our oldest daughter, Ashleigh's, graduation from Florida College. We drove and Allison flew. We had purchased her tickets quite a while back because at that time she absolutely could not ride in a car for any length of time. Now she can but we still have to be very careful. It really felt like a whirlwind trip because it takes about 10 hours to drive and on the way we got caught just outside of Atlanta in the traffic that was stopped for about 1 1/2 hours due to that 18 wheeler truck being stolen and the truck driver riding on the back of the cab while the man who stole it drove across Georgia. So that was interesting. We felt like we would NEVER get to Tampa. Allison was there way before us. Ashleigh graduated on Thursday night and we had planned to come home Friday morning but that didn't work out. When we finally got everything loaded in her car and the van it was around 2 p.m. so it felt pointless to pack up at the hotel, drive 6 hours, get another hotel and then drive the remainder on Friday. So Ashleigh stayed out and did some more visiting with her friends and Allison, Aimee, Barry and I went to Anna Maria Island which is about 45 minutes from Tampa. We had about 3 or 4 hours there and it was nice. VERY relaxing. Allison couldn't get wet because her incisions haven't healed completely but she just laid on the beach and rested. Of course we were in our knee shorts and shirts. :)
Allison is doing pretty good. She has good days and bad days. Her pain was aggravated by the travelling, really from Minnesota to flying to Tampa and then riding back with us. That was her plan and her choice. The doctor okayed it. We stopped about every 2 hours and such but it took its toll. I don't know if I mentioned or not but she is severely anemic right now. Her hemoglobin is 8 which is half of what it should be. We are still working on getting her blood at a therapeutic level on the Coumadin and the doctor will address the anemia in a bit. Alot of the iron rich foods are foods that also thicken blood so that is complicated. We will get through though. We are so thankful for her opportunity for surgery and that it seems to have been successful. I only say 'seems' because we won't know for certain until our next Mayo visit and then the next milestones are varied over the next two years.
So....that is our update for now.
Have a great day :)
Love,
Jennifer
Alot has been going on since my last update. We went to Tampa for our oldest daughter, Ashleigh's, graduation from Florida College. We drove and Allison flew. We had purchased her tickets quite a while back because at that time she absolutely could not ride in a car for any length of time. Now she can but we still have to be very careful. It really felt like a whirlwind trip because it takes about 10 hours to drive and on the way we got caught just outside of Atlanta in the traffic that was stopped for about 1 1/2 hours due to that 18 wheeler truck being stolen and the truck driver riding on the back of the cab while the man who stole it drove across Georgia. So that was interesting. We felt like we would NEVER get to Tampa. Allison was there way before us. Ashleigh graduated on Thursday night and we had planned to come home Friday morning but that didn't work out. When we finally got everything loaded in her car and the van it was around 2 p.m. so it felt pointless to pack up at the hotel, drive 6 hours, get another hotel and then drive the remainder on Friday. So Ashleigh stayed out and did some more visiting with her friends and Allison, Aimee, Barry and I went to Anna Maria Island which is about 45 minutes from Tampa. We had about 3 or 4 hours there and it was nice. VERY relaxing. Allison couldn't get wet because her incisions haven't healed completely but she just laid on the beach and rested. Of course we were in our knee shorts and shirts. :)
Allison is doing pretty good. She has good days and bad days. Her pain was aggravated by the travelling, really from Minnesota to flying to Tampa and then riding back with us. That was her plan and her choice. The doctor okayed it. We stopped about every 2 hours and such but it took its toll. I don't know if I mentioned or not but she is severely anemic right now. Her hemoglobin is 8 which is half of what it should be. We are still working on getting her blood at a therapeutic level on the Coumadin and the doctor will address the anemia in a bit. Alot of the iron rich foods are foods that also thicken blood so that is complicated. We will get through though. We are so thankful for her opportunity for surgery and that it seems to have been successful. I only say 'seems' because we won't know for certain until our next Mayo visit and then the next milestones are varied over the next two years.
So....that is our update for now.
Have a great day :)
Love,
Jennifer
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
