Holy Week

 

With another hospital admission at the start of Holy Week, there was a chance that Theresa would not be home in time for Pascha.  On Thursday night, the doctors said they were planning on discharging her on Good Friday.

After the Divine Liturgy on Holy Thursday, Fr. Rankin and I went up to see Theresa around 9:30PM.  It was time to take my black cassock for a spin and see if it would get me past security and the 8PM closing time!  (I figured, if they wanted to see clergy credentials, I'd show them my FBI credentials instead!) We came up to her room, both dressed in black and she said "A little dramatic tonight I see."  At least she still has a sense of humor.
I got a text message from her Friday afternoon to call.  When I did, she told me that they were not going to be releasing her.  They did a final blood test and found abnormal liver numbers.  They said this could be one of two things, a blockage in the bile duct or a tumor in the pancreas causing the bile duct to dilate.  They did an MRI and found a mass in the pancreas.

The GI doctors came to visit and said that they had two options to fix the issue.  First, they would insert a stent into the bile duct to try and force it open.  If successful, the fluids could drain from the liver and return the liver functions to normal.  If the stent was not successful, they would need to insert a drainage tube, bypassing the bile duct.  They said this was not an emergency situation and that it could wait until Monday.

They gave Theresa the option to discharge Friday night and return for outpatient procedure on Monday.  She chose the wiser option and decided to stay in the hospital until the procedure was finished.

On Sunday, after the Matins and Divine Liturgy, Ryan, Mom and I brought the Pascha basket to the hospital for Theresa to enjoy the fruits of the feast.  Without prompting, Ryan hopped up on the bed and enjoyed some more ham and chocolate with his Mom.



Before we left for church, he took the $5 he had gotten in one of the Easter eggs and said that he was going to buy his Mom some chocolate to enjoy.  I'm so impressed with him and the caring spirit he has been showing.



Today, they did the procedure with endoscope. As they were positioning her for the procedure, they said they normally did the procedure with the patient on their stomach, but due to her bone lesions in the femur, they would be doing the procedure with her lying on her back.  This was the first we had heard about lesions in the femur.   Ugh.

Theresa got back to her room around 3:30PM and told me that they were successful in getting the stent into the bile duct.  It looks like they will be discharging her tomorrow.