Happy Mardi Gras

Eric is doing a little better today. They think the reason his stool output went down is because he has been on narcotics to control the pain from the surgery on Friday. Evidently, if you aren't eating, narcotics can make your bowels so relaxed that they don't work right. So, he is now on some other sedatives that won't cause this effect.

They got some peliminary looks at the biopsies from last week. The doctor said that right now his bowels look more inflammed than they were in December. They have seen similar signs of inflamation in some of their transplant patients and know which drugs work best for those situations. So, Eric might start a different treatment. I think they want to see a few more test results to come back first.

The central line that thy put in a few weeks ago is having some issues. They are able to inject drugs and fluids into it, but can't draw blood from it. So, they prick a finger or his heel for all his tests. Since Eric has to have so many frequent blood tests, (about 4 times a day), they would really prefer to use his line. It takes them a while to fill a vial drop by drop. With the line, they can pull out the blood with a syringe. He will likely have another surgery in the next week to replace the line.

-dk (via cell phone)