We experienced a true case of dejavu around here recently. We are thankful to report that everything turned out well. But Marvin had a tough time of it there for a bit.
You may remember that he had a full blockage of his bile duct right before Jackson and Brianna got married. There were concerns about complications due to his
unique war injuries, but all turned out well and he was strong and in attendance at the wedding back then.
Well, it happened again! This time it sort of snuck up on us, though. Yes, he had been having some issues over the last few months, but we did not think we were at the same level of concern as back in 2015. We were wrong! Thankfully, our wonderful doctors and care providers moved quickly and Marvin was able to get worked in to have the surgical procedure without much delay. I will share below the email that I sent out to local family the evening we got home from the procedure. All is well now, although Marvin is having a bit more trouble 'bouncing back' this time around. I believe if we can ever get some warmer weather, he will improve quickly just by being back outside. We are keeping a close eye out for spring!!
I have to tell you that we have remarked, more than once, that we are sure glad we didn't have a wedding to host just days after this one! ;)
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| at the hospital waiting to go back for the procedure... |
I will say - if you have to be in this situation, the room we were in was comfortable and helpful. Yes, I took photos - it was impressive!
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| I seriously could not get over the bathroom! |
February 13, 2018
Whew! What a day!
We are home now after a very long but successful day in Columbia. The short version is that Marvin had a ‘deja vu’ of his July 2015 liver episode. Below is the long story.
Marvin has had a few of his ‘liver attacks’ this past fall/winter. We checked his liver enzymes and even had an ultrasound at the hospital but nothing showed up with either. In the back of our minds was the memory of July 2015 and his previous bile duct blockage so we were wary. But, we just kept on.
This past Saturday evening Marvin was hit with a particularly bad attack. The pain was intense. He went to bed only to awaken in the middle of the night with even more severe pain and eventually, vomiting. By Sunday afternoon he was showing some jaundice in his face and eye. By Sunday evening he was in a great deal of pain and was simply trying to keep drinking enough to stay somewhat hydrated. The jaundice was visible.
Monday morning we got bloodwork done and it showed his liver enzymes were indeed elevated. Our doc tried to get Marvin worked in for an endoscope/ultrasound in Columbia, but they couldn’t get to him until Tuesday.
To add insult to injury, Monday morning Marvin bent over to pick up a towel and did something to his hip! Dear Brian worked him in mid day Monday to give him an OMM treatment. Poor Marvin could barely get himself down onto the table. Brian did a wonderful job and got the hip issue ‘back in place’ but said the inflammation around the sacroiliac joint was pretty severe and that would just take time to go down. Marvin couldn’t take anything for the pain/inflammation because of the liver issue. So the rest of Monday into Tuesday was pretty horrible, I have to say. :(
Again, we were thankful that Marvin was worked into the schedule at Boone for Tuesday. He was told to arrive at the hospital at 11:45 but we knew he would have a wait to get to the actual procedure. Unfortunately, it was a pretty brutal day with intense pain. Plus, he had been NPO (nothing at all by mouth) since midnight so was struggling with being thirsty and weak. (He actually hadn’t eaten anything but a little bit of applesauce since Saturday evening.) They took him back for the endoscope/ultrasound about 3:15 pm.
Although that procedure can be done in the clinic, they choose to do it in the hospital if they believe they will then have to perform surgery following the diagnostic endoscope/ultrasound. At the hospital they can seamlessly move from one to the other - going right into the surgery. That is what happened in 2015 and that is what happened again, today. Although, as they said, Marvin was a bit of an overachiever today as opposed to his 2015 experience. :)
In 2015 he had a full blockage of the bile duct and they were able to locate it and remove it - and that was that. No incision anywhere, no stent. Looking back, that was a pretty cut and dry event in many ways (even though it didn't necessarily feel that way at the time).
Today they had to make an incision (but since it is inside he doesn’t have to do anything about it) and they discovered an infection behind the full blockage of the bile duct. The infection complicates things a bit because the blockage means that everything is backing up to the liver and pancreas… and you sure don’t want the pancreas getting mixed up with the infection or sepsis can occur. So we were very lucky that that didn’t happen. They also had to put a stent in the bile duct this time to allow further infection, stones, and sludge to continue to drain. The stent is not permanent so he will return to Boone in 6-8 weeks to have it removed. They will remove it by the same process as the surgery today, but it will be much easier because he won’t be in pain and presumably, the infection and stones/sludge will be gone. They will, however, do another ‘sweep’ for any remaining issues when they remove the stent.
They said that it is rare for someone to have two full blockages of the bile duct. But they also said that Marvin may just be a ‘stone producer’. Of course, there are always unknowns related to the trauma to his liver and the surrounding area from his wounds from the Vietnam explosion. We asked about ways we could be proactive in preventing future stones and were told there really isn’t anything to do to prevent their formation. But, they did let us know that next time (maybe there won’t be a next time?) we are to come to them immediately so perhaps we can get in there while it is just stones and not a full fledged blockage. Since the ultrasound and other tests here a few weeks ago showed no issue (as was the case in 2015, too) we know that the best diagnostic on this is how Marvin feels.
I do have to say how very thankful we are for our wonderful doctors here in Kirksville who worked through this with us and were so helpful in getting things moving so quickly to Columbia. There is nothing else they could have done - Marvin’s body is just odd on this. As Boone told him today, he is ‘special’. :)
P.S. For those of you who remember Marvin’s experience from 2015… you will be happy to know there were no buffalo sightings this time around! (he did, however, see a herd of horses running past him as he was going under the anesthesia…) hahahaha! An improvement?? :D
Thank you all for your wonderful prayers and encouragement. We would love for this to be the last time we do this particular thing… but all is well. And God is good, all the time.
Laura and Marvin
