Ascites is the accumulation of fluid in the belly or abdomen, it can be slight, moderate or severe and the Doc’s use different treatments depending on the ascites. My posting called a pig in the poker details my first experience with the ABDO-Needle. Yuk. I’m probably at the moderate to severe stage, I’ll find out more tomorrow after I see Nurse K. If they can’t get the ascites under control with meds then they’ll “tap” me, no unlike a draft beer. Potentially they could pull out as much as 2 gallons of fluid which translates to 16.68 pounds. I’m slight framed and losing muscle mass so this is not an insignificant number. Two babies, an average sized New York Strip or one big fat Samoa Baby. I feel like I’m carrying someone around inside there, with all the gurgling, fluid running and shifting. If nothing else it has allowed me the opportunity to empathize more with pregos. Standing is an effort, stair walking is an effort, pretty much every fucking thing is an effort and I can’t wait to get tapped or have this fluid defused with meds. Worst case scenario they put in a catheter, so they can pull fluid out on a weekly or twice weekly basis. I suspect I won’t be going there as those folks have significantly higher meld scores than me.
A week from today I’ll be arriving in Cincinnati and I’m looking forward to it. Not having seen most of my family for a long time under different circumstances it would be a super kick ass trip. As it is, I suspect I’ll do some sleeping, eating, visiting and if I’m lucky I’ll get to cook for a few folks.
Then Sunday evening it’s up to Indie for another series of test to try and get listed up there. I’ll keep you posted and if you have any recommendations for restaurants in Cinci or Indie please comment or drop me an email.
And Tipping is not a city in China, but that fluid sounds like it's tipping you...man this sucks.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking of you and praying for the best!