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The Biliary Drain Continues to be Mathew's Achilles Heel During Treatment

Up until this point, everything in Mathew’s journal, my notes, and texts have coincided, but shortly after this point, there are two levels of activity. The things that happened during this time medically and with everyone around Mathew and Mathew’s thoughts and feelings. This is what happens when he has a very high fever or an infection.

So I will try to keep the two clear for the next few blog posts.

I’ve mentioned before that in Mathew’s journal, he kept pages of “ins and outs”. 
On 4-1-14 he mentions
“bili bag started draining again yesterday, but the nurses are keeping track of the measurements.

4-1-14  “Bili bag keeps filling up rapidly. Maybe that has to do with the clog and the pain. Or maybe there is an infection in the bill bag. **


Mathew’s Journal

4-2-14

A lot of times I look in the bathroom mirror and ask “What happened to my body?”
Before I get into bed I notice that my sheets are filled with my thinning hair.

Notes with Dr. Knight
  • bili drains get clogged all the time.
  • sometimes they get caught against the wall.
  • cultures take 48 hours usually.
What are the results of the CT and x-ray?

We have increased pain because we have an enlarged spleen. 17.6 to 18.8 spleen.
stretching of capsule amongst spleen and liver.
Spasmodic pain related to bili pain……biliary colic.

If there is an infection it will reveal itself.

Infiltrative tumor with its tendrils on nerves.  *****



*******Mathew had been in a lot of pain before his diagnosis and continued to be in enormous pain throughout his treatment. At first, it seemed obvious, the tumor had invaded so much of his abdominal cavity but even as it shrunk, there were still tendrils affecting those nerves and there was probably nerve damage from the tumor.

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