Kaelyn will be relisted on the National Organ Transplant list on Monday, November 29th. Dr. Healey feels that it will be inevitable that Kaelyn will need a second transplant. It is better to get the surgery done while she is well, then to wait until she is sick. I agree with him. It also is better to do the surgery before scar tissue begins to build too much from her previous transplant. Atleast we have time on our side this go around. She is not sick like she was before and her cancer is no longer an issue. So, the surgeons are going to be very picky on what livers get offered to her. So, hopefully we can avoid any further complications with the new liver.
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We really enjoyed the time with our family and giving thanks for our many blessings. We continue to see God's hand in all of this, Kaelyn's remission from cancer is a miracle in its self.
Saturday, November 27, 2004
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
Scan results
I had forgotten that I didn't update the website with the latest CT Scan results, so the last post is a little out of order.
On the cancer side of things, Kaelyn has been pronounce cancer free!!!!! That is reason enough to celebrate! The scan showed no signs of cancerous cells anywhere in her lungs or new liver. Oncologists and Surgeons are still disagreeing on whether to give Kaelyn any further chemo. The oncologists seem to feel that there is no need, while our surgeons think that it would be a good idea just for precautionary measures. I think they are going to give Kaelyn at least another month to recover from surgery before they make their final decision. But for now, we are celebrating the fact that Kaelyn is in remission!
The results from the liver portion of the scan are not as promising. Her hepatic artery is in fact clogged and the part of the liver that contains the bile ducts is not receiving adequate blood flow at this time. In result of this, the bile ducts are beginning to clogg, which could result in scar tissue and infection. Like I said in the previous post, this may lead us another liver transplant. There is the chance that her liver could compensate for the inadequate blood flow with the working portal vein. There has been some cases where the liver functioned normally without blood flow from the hepatic artery. This is what we are praying for. But we are preparing for another transplant. Our doctors are preparing the necessary paperwork and bloodwork to relist Kaelyn on the National Organ List.
Let us all celebrate in the fact that Kaelyn is atleast Cancer free. That is a miracle all in it's self! And right now at this moment she is feeling healthy and well. We definitely have many things to be thankful for during this holiday season. Love to all.
Angie
On the cancer side of things, Kaelyn has been pronounce cancer free!!!!! That is reason enough to celebrate! The scan showed no signs of cancerous cells anywhere in her lungs or new liver. Oncologists and Surgeons are still disagreeing on whether to give Kaelyn any further chemo. The oncologists seem to feel that there is no need, while our surgeons think that it would be a good idea just for precautionary measures. I think they are going to give Kaelyn at least another month to recover from surgery before they make their final decision. But for now, we are celebrating the fact that Kaelyn is in remission!
The results from the liver portion of the scan are not as promising. Her hepatic artery is in fact clogged and the part of the liver that contains the bile ducts is not receiving adequate blood flow at this time. In result of this, the bile ducts are beginning to clogg, which could result in scar tissue and infection. Like I said in the previous post, this may lead us another liver transplant. There is the chance that her liver could compensate for the inadequate blood flow with the working portal vein. There has been some cases where the liver functioned normally without blood flow from the hepatic artery. This is what we are praying for. But we are preparing for another transplant. Our doctors are preparing the necessary paperwork and bloodwork to relist Kaelyn on the National Organ List.
Let us all celebrate in the fact that Kaelyn is atleast Cancer free. That is a miracle all in it's self! And right now at this moment she is feeling healthy and well. We definitely have many things to be thankful for during this holiday season. Love to all.
Angie
Monday, November 15, 2004
Kaelyn had to be readmitted last week for diarrhea and vomiting. We think she just had the stomach flu. But because of her clogged bile duct, the doctors wanted to make sure she didn't have an infection or was going into rejection. After being in the hospital for 5 days they finally let her go because all of the test were negative. Thank heavens!
We do have some not so great news though. The surgeons are considering relisting Kaelyn for a second transplant if the blockage in her bile ducts do not correct themselves. Normally they could place a drain and the ducts would usually clear up and start functioning properly. But because of the thrombosis (clot) in her hepatic artery, they don't believe that the drains would be a permanent solution for the bile duct issue. We basically are just waiting to see if her liver will some how compensate for the loss of blood flow from the artery. Dr Healey, our surgeon, has said that is some cases this is possible. So please pray our girls liver to be able to compensate for this.
Thank you all for your love and concern. We will keep you updated.
We do have some not so great news though. The surgeons are considering relisting Kaelyn for a second transplant if the blockage in her bile ducts do not correct themselves. Normally they could place a drain and the ducts would usually clear up and start functioning properly. But because of the thrombosis (clot) in her hepatic artery, they don't believe that the drains would be a permanent solution for the bile duct issue. We basically are just waiting to see if her liver will some how compensate for the loss of blood flow from the artery. Dr Healey, our surgeon, has said that is some cases this is possible. So please pray our girls liver to be able to compensate for this.
Thank you all for your love and concern. We will keep you updated.
Sunday, November 07, 2004
Okay, so it has been a few days since I last posted. Kaelyn and Jacob have come down with a stomach flu. We took Kaelyn into the ER yesterday. She is fine, we were just worried. Diarrhea is a sign of rejection or infection, so we figured we had better take her in. They drew some blood tests and just watched her for a few hours. We were able to come home without being admitted. Jacob is doing much better today, Kaelyn is still have some diarrhea so we are just keeping a really close eye on her.
Tomorrow Kaelyn is going in for her CT scan to check for any remaining cancer and to look for blood flow into her liver from the hepatic artery. We probably won't know the results until Thursday when we see her oncologists.
Blue Power Ranger.jpg
Dr Kaelyn.jpg
get well cards.jpg
Tall Tree.jpg
yummy.jpg
Kaelyns Incision.jpg
Tomorrow Kaelyn is going in for her CT scan to check for any remaining cancer and to look for blood flow into her liver from the hepatic artery. We probably won't know the results until Thursday when we see her oncologists.
Blue Power Ranger.jpg
Dr Kaelyn.jpg
get well cards.jpg
Tall Tree.jpg
yummy.jpg
Kaelyns Incision.jpg
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
We are home!
Kaelyn was discharged from the hospital yesterday afternoon. All of her liver function test are repeatedly coming back favorable. She still has the issue of the hepatic artery's blood flow not penetrating into the liver, but so far so good.
She was just so excited to get back home! So much happiness from that little girl was emitted! She wanted to walk all night long and laugh with Jacob. She also just loved being back with Grandma again! It was really fun to she her enjoying herself so much! There is no place like home!
There is one bit of news that is not so uplifting. Kaelyn most likely will need more chemo. We kindof all figured it would happen anyway. The head of surgery, Dr. Reyes, is the national expert on transplanting livers to patients with hepatoblastoma. He suggested, very firmly, that Kaelyn have one more course of chemo. Which makes sense. We would much rather go through 6 more weeks of chemo than another encounter with cancer. So, I think that in a couple of weeks she will be going back in for more chemotherapy. This does not mean that they can find any remaining cancer cells, it is only precautionary. We will find out more about the cancer after they test her AFP levels and perform a CT Scan. But from what the pathologist could tell, there is no cancer remaining.
Kaelyn is healing amazingly well. She is very happy and does not seem uncomfortable. I am hoping to put a few very cute Halloween pictures up of the kids very soon.
Love to all...
Angie
She was just so excited to get back home! So much happiness from that little girl was emitted! She wanted to walk all night long and laugh with Jacob. She also just loved being back with Grandma again! It was really fun to she her enjoying herself so much! There is no place like home!
There is one bit of news that is not so uplifting. Kaelyn most likely will need more chemo. We kindof all figured it would happen anyway. The head of surgery, Dr. Reyes, is the national expert on transplanting livers to patients with hepatoblastoma. He suggested, very firmly, that Kaelyn have one more course of chemo. Which makes sense. We would much rather go through 6 more weeks of chemo than another encounter with cancer. So, I think that in a couple of weeks she will be going back in for more chemotherapy. This does not mean that they can find any remaining cancer cells, it is only precautionary. We will find out more about the cancer after they test her AFP levels and perform a CT Scan. But from what the pathologist could tell, there is no cancer remaining.
Kaelyn is healing amazingly well. She is very happy and does not seem uncomfortable. I am hoping to put a few very cute Halloween pictures up of the kids very soon.
Love to all...
Angie
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