Abdominal Sonogram and CT Scan Results

Earlier this afternoon we were told that the sonogram they did earlier today (to check for problems with her appendix) wasn't able to show Annie's appendix well, so we took her for a CT scan of her abdomen later this afternoon.  In addition to the IV contrast, she had to have 600cc of contrast given through her g-button which I was a little nervous about considering that's a large volume to go into a tummy that's been empty for a couple days now.  But she tolerated it well and did great through the CT scan. 

I just got the results of the scan and it is as I expected... Her appendix looks totally fine--no signs of appendicitis at all.  But she has colitis in the sigmoid region of her colon.  They don't know yet if it is just a flare-up of her ulcerative colitis that she was diagnosed with 3 years ago, or if the colitis is being caused by c-diff or another kind of infection. 

These results aren't too surprising considering how her BMs have picked up today--just changed number 5 for the day.  I suspect that either the strong antibiotics she got during her spinal fusion surgery has caused a c-diff infection, or all the constipation, laxatives, and suppositories she received after her spinal fusion have caused a flare-up of her ulcerative colitis.

But until we find out the cause, we can't change her treatment for now.  If it is simply an ulcerative colitis flare-up then she would require steroids to calm the inflammation.  But if it's c-diff, steroids would only make an infection worse.  So we continue to wait for the c-diff test results that should be back in a couple more days.  The GI team will be in tomorrow to consult and run more tests. 

For now, we are still working to get her temperatures down which have been up to 102.6 today. I don't expect her temperatures to go down now until we can start working to get the inflammation under control. 

I feel grateful that we are pointed in the right direction now.  Thank you so much for all your prayers and concern for Annie.  I know I say that a lot, but it really does mean a lot to us and it helps us not feel so alone to know that so many people are thinking of her and praying for her.  Thank you so much!