No Go on the Ultrasound

The Home Health Nurse came this morning and was able to draw labs straight from the picc line.  It was nice not having to go to the Lab.  The picc line will have to be flushed, but we're not quite sure if that will be weekly or daily.  E.'s vitals were all stable, although his oxygen saturation level is still running low and his pulse is still running high.

The ultrasound was a bust.  E. was simply in too much pain to go anywhere.  He could barely make it from the bed to the bathroom.  There was no way he was going to make it to the car.  I called the Radiology Department and was able to reschedule for tomorrow.  So, we'll try again tomorrow and hope Take #2 is successful.

The doctor's office called this afternoon with the results of his labs already.  E.'s potassium level was low at 3.3 so they're calling in a prescription for potassium.  If I recall correctly, the potassium comes in a powder that needs to be mixed in water and E. really hates it (I think he's had it at least once or twice before).

The liver numbers are still improving, so that's good.

1)  Bilirubin, Total:  2.7 (normal 0.0-1.1)
2)  Alkaline Phosphatase:  214 (normal 25-150)
3)  AST:  68 (normal 0-40)
4)  ALT:  34 (normal 0-44)

To compare to past results:

Bilirubin on 11/20/12:  3.8;  11/14/12:  5.8;  10/29/12:  8.4
Alkaline Phosphatase on 11/20/12:  212;  11/14/12:  484;  10/29/12:  390
AST on 11/20/12:  71;  11/14/12:  132;  10/29/12:  173
ALT on 11/20/12:  49;  11/14/12:  107;  10/29/12:  128