A Bit More Detail

Things are nice and peaceful this afternoon. It's almost time for the zumbathon that some of Nick's co-workers have sponsored to help him with his medical expenses. I have never zumbaed before, but it should be fun. He is feeling better today than the last couple of days. I'll try to fill you in with a bit more detail of what has happened over the last several days.

Last Wednesday I noticed that Nick had some bleeding around his PICC line, and he kept saying that he just didn't feel right. So, after calling Vanderbilt we ended up at the Jackson Clinic. They did some labs, but not all of the profiles that they check at Vanderbilt. Nick was a bit dehydrated, so they gave him some saline, and that did help him to feel better. Last Friday we went to Vanderbilt for his regular chemo appointment. Lab tests are a regular part of the process. They found that his fibrinogen was dangerously low and that he was in mild DIC. If DIC is left untreated it can become life threatening very quickly. Simply put, It causes the body to form tiny clots throughout the bloodstream. It uses up the body's stores of clotting factors on all of these tiny clots. So, when the body really needs to clot...there is no clotting factor to use. Patients in acute DIC bleed uncontrollably internally, through their skin, and from just about anywhere else that you can think of.
The fact that he was in mild DIC was good in one way, because they had a clear explanation for what was going on with him. His liver was fine...etc. So, they gave him cryoprecipitate, a blood product which replaces what he is missing. (A big thank you to everyone who donates blood!!)

They sent us home late friday night with instructions to watch for more bleeding and unexplained bruising. Monday morning his PICC line was bleeding again, and he did have some bruising. So, when Vanderbilt called to tell us about the labs they had scheduled I told them about the symptoms he was having. They immediately asked how long it would take for us to get there. We headed east. When we arrived we found that his fibrinogen was still very low, but not as low as it had been on friday. They gave him some more cryoprecipitate, and we were sent home. We will get more labs drawn tomorrow, and hopefully his levels will be back to normal with no more evidence of DIC.

He is scheduled for more invasive testing on Friday, which will not be safe to do unless his clotting is back to normal. We are asking that everyone agree with us for a miracle in his blood! His fibrinogen levels need to be back to normal. We know the God that can do just that!! Please continue to pray. It is well.