Med Update from Scottish Rite

Ivey was admitted into Scottish Rite on Wednesday afternoon.  She started having bloody stools in the 24 hours prior to her admission.  Ivey saw her GI physician on Wednesday morning, after leaving his office he called us at home and requested we take her straight back to the ER at Scottish Rite.  So here we are.

After Ivey's admittance on Wednesday her stools had an increase in blood.  Several tests were performed to try and determine where the bleeding was coming from in her intestines.  At first the physicians thought she might have something called Meckel's diverticulum.  Meckel's is present at birth, so to have it, you must be born with it.  After much searching, it has been ruled out.  Ivey does not have Meckel's.  No one is certain what is causing the bleeding.  The most likely causes have been ruled out.  The other causes that remain have to be narrowed down and pin-pointed.

Due to the amount of blood being lost, Ivey's hemoglobin levels dropped.  Ivey has had two blood transfusions thus far.  Ivey had a blood transfusion on Thursday and again on Friday.  We are watching the hemoglobin levels closely.

Friday night Ivey was taken back for surgery to find the source of the bleed in the intestines.  Originally the surgeon tried to find the source by going through laproscopically through her belly button.  He could not find the source and had to open her up.  She has an incision from her mic-key button down to right above her pubic bone.  The surgeon went over her intestines 7 or 8 times but could not find the source of the bleed.  During that time the bleeding stopped.  So he could not clamp off the intestines to see where blood would pool in the intestine.  So he closed her up.

Now we wait for the bleed to begin again.  Ivey's GI doc is trying to figure this out and determine which test will be the optimal to run next that will best locate the source of the bleeding. Its a needle in a haystack.

She is pretty banged up and really sore.  She is on Morphine and Ativan.  Her port access had to be disconnected last night.  It would flush but would not get a blood return.  The port has been accessed for the transfusions so that she did not have to be stuck every time they needed blood to check her blood count.  Without the port her little arms are bruised from all the sticks.  They look like a pin cushion.  Fortunately the phlebotomists are great - one stick each time and they get blood.  She also had two lines, one in each arm, for the surgery last night.  One finally blew, so its a pretty bruise.  The other is holding and being used for her fluids.  

We are always fortunate with Ivey's physicians.  Her GI  doctor has been with her since the very beginning, literally day one.  So he knows her well, better than anyone.  He has been a part of every surgery, hospital stay and all the days in between.  All of which makes us feel safe.  He knows her history.  She is in good hands, excellent hands.

But in true Ivey fashion - she has thrown a curve ball.