GI Consult

Our GI's partner came in to consult with us today.  We were very grateful considering that we haven't seen her (or anyone from GI) since Monday.  She seemed rather stumped at Annie's case.  After updating her on everything that has been going on and after she was able to review all the labs (high WBC, lower CRP, high temps, etc.) she decided that we need to find out what the calprotectin comes back as tomorrow and that will help point us in the right direction, hopefully.

Although regardless of what the calprotectin is, she wants to do an upper GI study tomorrow that uses x-ray to look at her stomach and see any reflux into the esophagus and also how her stomach empties into the small intestines.  I think she's checking for any blockages or other problems since Annie can't swallow a pill-cam to show the condition of the small intestines.

Depending on what the upper GI shows, she'll consider doing an upper endoscopy and/or colonoscopy to finish trying to get a better visual picture of more of Annie's GI tract.  She agreed with the ID team on starting oral vancomycin, but so far no orders have been placed for it. She may also consider steroids to treat the colitis, but I got the sense that she wants a better idea of what's going on in there first.

So we're thrilled that the GI came by today and we hope that someone from the GI team continues to come by daily until we get this thing figured out.  I'm happy that she'll be doing some more imaging studies to find out what's wrong.  I'm happier with that than just throwing more drugs at her with trial and error until we find something that works.  I really hope we can have a definitive diagnosis soon and start being more productive at targeting the underlying issue. 

Annie's fevers are still persisting today, but she's been able to rest quite a bit.  Thursday is "weighing day" so we got a new weight on Annie.  She's down to 72 lbs (from 76 lbs on Monday).  She's much less puffy today too.  I think she's finally starting to shed some of those retained fluids.