Quite a day we've had! Ron's blood pressure continued to drop and heart rate continued to rise so the decision was made to take him back to Critical Care Unit (CCU), around 1PM, before the surgery, to stabilize him. They gave him a bunch of fluids plus Albumin to help boost his blood pressure. He also had 2 episodes where his blood sugar got extremely low so they had to inject glucose (sugar).
They took him to surgery at about 3:15 but it actually started late (about 4:40). Dr. Elieson spoke with us afterwards (about 7:00) and confirmed they really had a hostile environment to deal with. They basically did "damage control" ...cleaned out a pocket of fluid in upper midsection and some fluid in the upper left quadrant but didn't want to do any digging into the "angry" inflamed tissue to search out any of the leaks, or try to get a look at the pancreas; they felt this would cause more harm. They believe there is perforation in the colon (as well as the leak in the duodenum). They did put in another drainage tube to help control the pocket of fluid. Basically, he again has sepsis (infection throughout bloodstream).
He will have a CT scan tomorrow to determine if there are any other pockets of fluid that need to be addressed. If there are, the plan is to handle it with Interventional Radiology (the procedure where they place a drainage tube guided by CT scan/x-ray). Please pray if there are other pockets of fluid they will be in areas where they could safely place tubes in this way.
Tonight, his blood pressure is still low and heart rate is still high and they are working to adjust meds to stabilize; as well as IV fluids and pain meds. Good news is, he was able to come off the ventilator in the OR right after surgery!
What does all of this mean? - we are still playing the waiting game. We do still have some pancreatitis issues to deal with but this continues to be more of a surgical situation. He will still require surgery sometime down the road but the further we can get away from previous surgeries the more his belly heals; the better. We are still praying the perforations/leaks will heal on their own and when the time is right they will only have to deal with reconnecting the intestines at that time. He will not have any more of the tube feedings and is back on the TPN (IV fluids only). Dr. Elieson has said that he is in a minimal septic shock state right now secondary to all the bad fluids leaking into his abdominal cavity.
Dr. Elieson is in contact with another doctor who specializes in pancreatic surgeries at Presbyterian in Dallas to see if there is anything he would do differently or if a larger hospital with more resources and a larger number of these types of cases would be a better place for Ron. We have mixed emotions...obviously we want the best care possible for Ron. However, it is very comforting to be close to home, family and friends; as well as having the intimate knowledge Doctor's Elieson and Pollard have of Ron's insides. Nothing would happen quickly; and obviously, the main thing right now is to stabilize him and let him recover from this surgery. The next 24-48 hours are critical. Please pray for wisdom and discernment in this area.
Also, please pray for a young man here in the waiting area with us tonight. His girlfriend is in CCU following a drug overdose. Don't know either name, but have been able to offer comfort by trying to meet some of his needs tonight: buying him a soft drink, sharing our pillows, blankets and "tricks of the trade" of staying the night in CCU waiting area.
Many prayer requests tonight! Thanks for continually holding us up and bringing our requests to the Father!
"My thoughts are completely different from yours," says the Lord. "and my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT
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