Update from Bobbi re: Chris via CaringBridge - WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25, 2009 09:45 PM, CDT

[Guest guest]

Ah sweet relief!It took them about 2 hours from start to finish to put the drain in. was like a new man when he came back! They already drained 775 mL before he even made it up to his room! I left a little after 7 and at that point the total amount drained from his belly was almost 6 liters! That's the most he's ever had drained-even before his transplant! They had to come in and start another IV because they had to give him a TON of albumin. He's supposed to get 2 units of albumin for each certain amount of fluid removed. They had to give him about 8 to get him caught up! Once they've caught up they'll reconnect the drain. The kind of big issue now is getting him to pee. He was supposed to get some Lasix if he hadn't peed in a couple hours. He hadn't by the time I left. They're concerned about his kidney function at this point. thinks his kidneys are working well because all of the fluid has been dumped into his belly rather than staying in his veins and excreted through his kidneys. I'll be interested to see how his numbers look tomorrow. I'm hoping his INR is down so he can have the biopsy. They can't really know for sure what's going on until they do that and obviously they can't fix it until they know what the problem is.

The big relief for now at least is that he was feeling 100 times better after having the drain put in. I could tell by the way he was talking that he felt better. Then he ordered dinner and ate almost every bite of it. He looked exhausted so hopefully he can get some sleep tonight now since he's not in so much pain.

I'll update more tomorrow.

 To send a message to  Bobbi and family goto;

 http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/chriscantrell

 password: christopher