Update on Mike

I will try to give you an update on Mike. At the beginning of the year I decided to save the wrist band from the Hospital to see how many times mike went to the ER or Hospital.  The month of February Mike was at the hospital every week! It feels like our second home. Its fun when we have a nurse that we have seen before, there is one sweet nurse that we would talk TV shows with. There is a Dr there that has done 3 of Mikes Draining which means it will be done well and fast. As Mike's wife, i feel better knowing he will get good care rather then being stuck with a needle 20+ times.  Mike got another procedure from the doctor that did such a horrible paracentesis and she ended up doing the best paracentesis mike has received. I was cool to see that she took the time to learn from your mistakes and make it so much better.

The Drs at the Uof U told Mike about a surgery call a TIPS procedure, TIPS stands for:

Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) is a procedure that may be used for complications of cirrhosis called ascites (fluid in the abdomen). A TIPS procedure is done by a radiologist, who places a small wire-mesh coil (stent) into a liver vein. The stent is then expanded using a small inflatable balloon. The stent forms a channel, or shunt, that bypasses the liver. This channel reduces pressure in the portal vein thus reducing the amount of fluid that builds up in Mikes abdomen. 

Complications of the procedure may include:

 Hepatic Encephalopathy: a disorder caused by a buildup of toxins in the brain that can happen with advanced liver disease. It affects a lot of things, like your behavior, mood, speech, sleep, or the way you move it also makes Mike Lose his Mind, his ability to think to remember and to basically function.  This has happened a few times and more likely to happen now that he has had the TIPS put in. We will need to be very diligent with his meds to make sure this wont happen. we have decided to have this procedure done. 

I will tell you how the procedure goes later.