Today's update on Brian

Well...he had a good appointment with his GI today, which he was concerned about since the doc hasn't had the best bed side manner.

First and foremost, he looked at the CT from Kirby and said that the first problem was that his liver was not enlarged at all but rather his Spleen. HIS SPLEEN?????????????WHAT??????????????

The doc asked if the ER PA really said liver and Bri said "yes" and that we talked about it for awhile after the results. Sure enough, the paperwork from Radiology the other night says SPLEEN, NOT LIVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously...this is why people don't go to Kirby Hospital unless they absolutely have to ( this was the PA who, 3 years ago, saw Alaric because he was having terrible pain in his ear and screaming and crying and said he was fine. We disagreed, went to Carle and found out he had a ruptured eardrum that was actually bleeding). Anyway- the GI did confirm that the lab results did say he had increased liver ensymzes and that while our organ was incorrect, the spleen is a concern, of course and actually, most problems in the spleen come from concerns with the liver.

So, first plan of action is to get labs done again and evaluate the liver enzyme again. Some people have an increased liver enzyme simply due to the ERCP proceedure. If that is the case, it would be normal by now. If it's a concern in the liver, the count would still be high. This test will give us the first glimse into the next path to take. Brian has already done his labs.

Second plan of action is to have Radiology at Carle do a frame by frame comparison and analysis of the CT scan at Carle two weeks ago and the CT from Kirby this past Saturday. This will allow us a better overall picture. GI doc does see that the spleen looks enlarged but thought perhaps it could just be on the large side of normal. The Radiologists will be able to measure both CT's and see if it's grown in a week's time or not and if it really is something for us to be concerned about. While it's on Radiology's docket today, it could be tomorrow or even the next day before we hear anything.

Brian asked about the Celiac's Disease biopsy they did while they were in his intestines- NEGATIVE ( Great news). GI did ask lab to test for a wheat allergy in his blood to rule that out as well.

Brian asked about Chrones Disease. GI indicated that it's a pretty obvious condition and they would have seen specific symptoms on his Endoscope, COlonoscopy, or ERCP.

Brian asked about Schinter of the Odi dysfunction ( something we had leared about because my cousin had alot of the same symptoms and ended up having SOD and because we've read about it on-line). He said they did not measure for that during the ERCP because it's even more invasive to go into that area and Carle does not have the machines necessary to do the measurement.

Lastly, brian asked for a referal and GI agreed. He would like to begin the process of referring to Barnes. He warned Brian that the process may be slow. Barnes may say yes and insurance fights it or asks for their to be a second opinion locally first. OR insurance may say yes but Barnes won't see him until their is a second local. So, the process has begun and we will see where that takes us.

For now, we wait for the labs and see what they say. We wait for the Radiology report.

We wait! Help us wait! Pray that he starts to feel better and that his spleen is OK and his liver is too.