Update 7/9

The gallbladder surgery was a total success and confirmed that is was indeed the cause of much of her suffering. Dr. Gene Cagle (the surgeon who performed the laparoscopic cholycystectomy) couldn't believe that it was in as bad of shape as it really was for someone her age with no children or medical problems.

Today has been relatively uneventful. Maegan is still in quite a bit of pain both from the surgery as well as the blood clots in her leg. It is very difficult for her to move around as we have found out from the nurses coming in and trying! She is back on a liquid diet but is having to force herself to drink even a little bit of water.

The biggest obstacle she is facing is the pain. This is keeping her from getting out of bed and the discomfort is keeping her from eating. She knows that she needs food and movement in order to get better, but she is facing a lot of resistance from her own body.

Pray that she find the strength to overcome the pain as well as a hunger for sustenance to give her nutrients. We are getting so close!

Thank you all!
Philip & Maegan

Update 7/8

The clotting is still present in her lower left leg but Dr. D said that with the blood-thinners, her body would be able to dissolve them easily. They will remove the vein catheter tomorrow morning.

Dr. C just came by and said that she will be going in for the gallbladder surgery within the hour. Pray that there be no complications and that God give her relief from the pain and the anxiety that this all has brought on.

She is also still having a lot of pain in her leg and is feeling totally overwhelmed with the situation. She may also be developing pneumonia again from being stuck laying down for so long.

Please pray that she get relief from everything that she is going through!!

We thank you so much for your continued love and support!
Philip & Maegan

Update 7/7

I obviously have not been blogging as often since the last hospital stay. I will try to write as often as I can but sometimes do not have the time to write a full post. I do however use twitter almost daily for quick updates about Maegan's progress. You can see my most recent tweets right here on the blog or you can follow me at http://twitter.com/pmelton.

Maegan was placed back in the hospital last Wednesday night to treat blood clots in her legs that had formed while she was on bed rest. Around that time, she was also suffering from severe abdominal pain and nausea. Dr. C came by a couple of days ago and evaluated that Maegan's gallbladder was damaged and needed to come out and the operation was set to happen Monday (7/6) afternoon. Since she has developed extensive clotting in her legs, he consulted with Dr. D (also from Grace) and they decided to put a filter into the inferior vena cava (IVC) to stop any clot that might have broken loose from entering the lungs. During this simple procedure (which went with no problems), he noticed that the blood was moving in the right leg but stopped totally whenever it got to the left. An x-ray image confirmed that the blood had clotted from right above the knee all the way up into her stomach causing severe pain, swelling and discomfort. The doctor explained that although she wasn't at risk for losing her leg if they did not move quickly she might not ever lose the pain and swelling.

In order to correct this extensive clot, the doctor had to insert a catheter into the vein in her left leg and inject clot-reducing medicine (same as used for heart attacks) directly into the clot. It wound up taking over 2 hours but everything went well. She had to spend last night in ICU in order to make sure no complication arose from the surgery. This morning they took her back into the lab to have her leg scanned again. Sure enough, the blood was flowing perfectly in her upper leg! They lowered the location of the catheter and are continuing to pump medicine into the lower calf now.

She will remain in ICU until they check the lower leg around 5:00 this afternoon. Dr. Cagle is still planning on removing the gallbladder tomorrow as long as her body can handle it. These next few days will be long and painful but the results will feel like she has a new body. After she feels better we will continue to look into the neuromusclular issues.

Thank you so much for your prayers!
Philip & Maegan