Sunday, February 2, 2014

I never did post about Peter's catheterization that he had in November.  He did well with the procedure, but the results have been difficult to interpret.  The doctors have discussed and rediscussed the results, but the cause of the enlarged heart and increased O2 saturation in the right ventricle is unclear.  One of the causes could be another AVM (arteriovenous malformation) which has yet to be found, but would likely be in the abdomen.  None of the many tests he has had over the years has found one though.  Another cause could be that the liver is declining in health, but Peter's overall health and labs do not seem to be really pointing to that.  The portal hypertension Peter has could be causing it, but during the catheterization, the portal pressures were "reasonable."  So for now, the cause remains uncertain.  The plan is to get another ECHO in March and compare it to this past July's ECHO.  We are all hoping that the cardiac changes that seem to have occurred over the last three years are not progressive, and the ECHO should be a good way to evaluate that.  If they are getting worse, then we will need to explore the possible causes a little further to see if we can stop further changes.

I do want to share the very good news that Peter continues to be doing well off TPN.  His overall growth was stable enough at November's CAIR that we can wait 4 months for our return check-up, with a lab check in between.   This is the longest that we have ever been able to go between visits!


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