Another Day

The night was pretty uneventful. The intern came in looking exhausted, drinking coffee and sat down for a while. After talking about the latest movies he has seen, he finally welcomed our questions. Basically, he said the fevers could be from the wound infection or from another type of infection internally. The labs could be from the same causes. The increased JP drain output could be from jostling around or from increased pancreatic leaking or from the removal of the other drain. He said not to worry about it quite yet, but that they will be monitoring Dan to see what happens.

This morning, McGreeky stopped by and changed the dressing. He said the wound is looking better a bit, but still has some purulent drainage. Also, he was concerned about Dan's WBC count yesterday (20). Though it came down to 16 today, he wants to do a CT to check for a liver abcess or other type of fluid collection internally. If they find something, another drain will need to be placed and we'll likely be here at Stanford for a while longer. The doc says he thinks the CT will be a "low-yield test" in that he doubts that's what is happening. Accordingly, Dan will be staying today until more results are known. If all goes well, he can probably go home tomorrow.

Dan is still running low-grade fevers. It's becoming very frustrating. One vital sign (VS) check will show 37 and the next 38.3 and back and forth all day. His JP only drained 30ml last night, as opposed to 110 the (8 hr) shift yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately, the drainage is picking up again. McGreeky was fairly sure it is pancreatic juice being released, which means the leak is increasing a bit.

The CT is scheduled for early afternoon, but Dan has to drink contrast first, which hasn't shown up yet. Hopefully, it gets done on time and we can learn the results early evening. McGreeky said he will either call or drop by tonight, so we don't have to wait until tomorrow morning.

So, we're here another day. Dan still feels good, just a bit tired and frustrated. We need to go home soon.

Prayer Requests:
* A clean CT--no abcess or infection anywhere
* Resolution and healing of the wound infection
* Slowing of the JP drainage, eventual drying up
* No more fevers
* Sealing of the pancreatic leak on it's own (without surgical intervention)
* Guidance and wisdom for the docs
* Release from the hospital soon (and safely)
* Healing in all of Dan's body
* Encouragement and endurance