Tuesday, March 31, 2009

"The Meeting"

We are feeling much better about the plan of action after our meeting today. Each one of Olivia's specialties was represented, so it was nice to get everyone on the same page.
The main goal right now is to determine why Olivia is so sick. They are going to run a couple more viral tests to rule a few things out. I think, for the most part, everyone is in agreement that the main problem is Olivia's pulmonary hypertension. They are going to try to start her on another medication that may help. We are giving it one week, and hoping that she is able to start weaning on the vent. If not, they will probably do a cardiac catheterization to get a "true" reading of the pressures and function of her heart. Another possibility is putting a hole in her heart to help relieve some of the pressure. She originally had one put in during a previous surgery, but it may have closed on its own.
As far as her pre-leukemia is concerned: Would it help to start chemo at this point? No. It would just cause her immune system to be more compromised. Is it detrimental to not start chemo at this point? No. Her platelets and hemoglobin are able to be managed with transfusions.
They are going to try to run some more tests on her blood to see if her spleen is by any chance contributing to her breakdown of platelets. Her spleen is very large and could be "eating" up all of the platelets that she is getting.
So, as always, we feel that everyone has Olivia's best interest in mind, and hopefully she responds to these new ideas. She is in amazing hands here.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad the meeting went well. Having everyone on the same page is nice for a change. I hope the dr's can find out what's going on with little Livie soon.

Anonymous said...

I am praying for your little and girl. And I'm also praying for the doctors that God will work through their healing hands

Anonymous said...

So glad to hear about the discoveries from the meeting today. Hopefully some of the new avenues they are exploring will get some good results. It sounds like Olivia is in very caring hands. Take care- Kara

Judy said...

Sounds like a good meeting! I'm sure it feels good just to have a plan of action! The whole spleen thing is interesting. You'll have to keep us posted on that one!