Update #143

Thanks for posting, Dad.

Typing this from UC's cafeteria because unlike UT, this place seems to enforce the "two visitors per patient rule," even for sweet li'l old us. :-) Dave's parents are sitting with him now so I can grab some lunch.

Late last week, Dave mentioned, while I was changing his dressing, some irritation on the skin flap that was rotated to cover his injury back in June. When Wound Team came to check it out, they thought they noticed some swelling as well and decided to order a CT to rule out the possibility of something more serious than skin irritation or aggravation from Dave's increase in exercise.

Just as I was going to post all of this on the blog last Friday, one of the doctors came in and informed us that the CT seemed to be clear, so I decided it wasn't worth the hassle. Silly me thinking people don't need to pray...

Last night, as I was changing Dave's dressing again, I noticed that the irritated area had turned into what looked like a very large blister. Wound Team came this morning to check it out, and when they pulled back the dressing and touched the area, drainage pushed through the skin and poured out.

The fear last week, which was confirmed this morning, was that Dave had either developed another hole in his colon with another drainage tube (fistula) or that his current fistula was trying to find another way to drain in addition to the original hole in his side. From what I understand, the second option is less complicated to fix than the first (still only requires one section of repair in his intestines), but neither option is super surprising.

Within 45 minutes of the discovery of the new opening, Dave and I were in an ambulance on our way to UC. Since then, we have been sitting in the ER waiting for the surgeons to see him. It is likely that we will be here all day, both for the surgeons to evaluate him and for them to run some scans and tests to determine whether the problem is a new fistula or simply a new exit point. From Wound Team's perspective, Dave will likely be back at Drake by tonight to continue with the original plan for surgery in January, but there is a small chance that Dave's surgeon will decide to admit Dave to UC to do the surgery now.

I do have Internet access here, so I will do my best to post again once we hear anything. It may be a while, though, so don't worry if there is no news until late tonight. Until then, be praying. Dave is doing well, feeling fine, and his spirits are still up. That being said, seeing yet another hole in his body this morning was hard for both of us, and it will be nice when we know what is going on for sure. Keep praying...