As anticipated, this morning showed no improvement. Our radiologists decided after trying two sclerosing agents it’s time to see if we’ve hardened Herbie up enough that he won’t cause any more trouble. The tailpipe (drain) is now capped.**
Next steps?
- We hold our breath and hope that Herbie doesn’t try to re-inflate. At 28 cc, he’s less than 10% of his original capacity and shows no inclination to get smaller. We’ll hope he doesn’t try to enlarge now that fluid has nowhere to go.
- CT scan on April 12th to see if Herbie stays small or if he expands once capped. If there’s no expansion, we’ll take out the tailpipe and hope that he never causes problems (possibly even dissipating into my body over time?)
This decision is welcome in multiple ways:
- For the first time in over two months there is no extension tube and bulb, making clothes more comfortable and simplifying several daily activities
- There’s some hope that we’ve collapsed Herbie enough that he’ll give up
- Though we appreciate their smiling faces and personalities, it’ll be nice to skip a week of visiting our acquaintances at Anderson Mercy Hospital
We won’t get our hopes up TOO much, but it’s nice to assess and then proceed as warranted.
Many thanks for the continuing thoughts and prayers. We hope and pray for a joyous Easter time for you and those you love!
** the drain is staying in since Herbie is deep in the body and of smaller size now, making connecting another tailpipe more difficult (and likely painful?)