Blog Entry
Posted by Loren Alldrin on July 20, 2010 to Family Life blog
What we thought might be TB in Olivia is turning out to be even more interesting.
Two days before she was scheduled to be at UC Davis for a bronchoscopy, Olivia started coughing up a nasty brownish liquid. We decided to keep some of it for the county health department to look at. We brought the specimen in to them Monday morning, and received a rather vague call from a nurse that afternoon. She didn't want to say what they found, but she said we should keep our UC Davis appointment. She also said she'd come by the house with an image she wanted us to bring to Davis.
What she wouldn't tell us on the phone is that Olivia's abnormal chest scans are likely the result of a parasite she's had in her body for some time. It can create cysts in most vital organs, and can be fatal if left untreated. It's not contagious in this form, but it's a serious parasitic infection. You can read more about this parasite here. (Is it too late to choose TB instead?)
Olivia has already been admitted to the ICU, and they'll monitor her closely as they begin treating the cysts with drugs. The cysts can react and rupture (one already did on Sunday), which may cause a host of scary problems. Hence the close monitoring as they begin treatment. If the cysts remain stable, she may be able to leave the ICU in days. So the best-case scenario is a week or so at UC Davis, six or more months of medicine and a decade or so of monitoring.
The exact treatment plan depends on how many cysts she has, how large they are, which organs are affected, etc. We'll post more as we know more. Right now, we covet your prayers for little Olivia. The rest of us need prayer also, as we just put our house on the market. I'm finishing this post as a realtor is about to stop by to see the house. So Mr. Mom is scrambling to make the place presentable in 20 minutes. Thank goodness it was already 99% of the way there.
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