Today we got some frustrating news. Blood has been pooling for some time in Nate’s left arm (same side he had his port put in) and there has been some discomfort and neuropathy along with that. Today Nate went to a vascular surgeon since this puts him at high risk for blood clots. The surgeon believes that there may not be enough room between Nate’s top rib and clavicle (collar bone) and so blood is not returning efficiently, hence the pooling. Sooo…they are considering removing his top rib to provide relief…yikes…right?
Friday, Nate will go in for a procedure to see if that is absolutely necessary since that surgery and recovery would be kind of a big deal. Nate will be sedated and a catheter will be inserted in his arm all the way through the vein in question. From there, they will be able to tell if the cause of the swelling/pooling is scar tissue, a blockage or because there isn’t enough from between the surrounding bones.
We need prayer…it feels like we have been running a marathon only to cross the finish line and be told that we have to keep running more than the 26.2 miles we had energy for. Nate is feeling crushed and frustrated as am I…Carter is awesomely unaware (although he has the stomach flu…making this week extra awesome J ) Please pray for healing, pray for hope, pray for faith and patience.
Much love,
The Heide's
So is the left side the one where men are already short one rib (you know since God took it to make Eve)? Maybe this would even things out? :) Hopefully it doesn't come to that. We'll pray it gets resolved prior to going to far. Hang in there!
ReplyDelete