-- Hilary's Medical Situation --
November 30 -- December 1, 2005
Medical Update 11-30-05
Hilary had another follow-up appointment with the neuro-ophthalmologist, Dr. Carter this morning. Her visual fields test continues to improve, slightly, but he told us today that she has lost her color vision in the right eye. Dr. Carter explained that color vision is one of the most sensitive tests for nerve damage. He feels that since Hilary may live another 80 years or so and might want to have the best possible vision in her right eye, that she should start hyperbaric oxygen treatments “several times a week for several weeks”.
We went straight from his office to the hyperbaric clinic where she had her first treatment. This involves changing into cotton scrubs, laying down on a stretcher that slides into a clear glass(?) cylindrical chamber that looks like this:
The respiratory therapist then slowly increases the pressure up to 2 atmospheres with 100% oxygen. This practically forces the O2 into all the plasma / blood all over the body. You lay there for 1 ˝ hours, then he slowly decreases the pressure back to normal. Hilary tolerated it all very well. Her next “chamber time” is tomorrow, again. The challenge here is not missing too much of the same class at school.
Hilary has also developed numbness to her left hand and foot / ankle. We called Dr. Bogaev and he explained that you can get a carpel tunnel-like syndrome to your hand / feet after radiation therapy sometimes. He wants to see her Friday, 12-02-05, and ordered an EMG to be done after that to look at the muscle tone and nerve fibers in Hil’s left wrist and ankle.
We need your prayers. Just when we think things are starting to get easier, it seems Hilary is faced with a whole new set of challenges. Thanks to everyone.
Medical Update 12-01-05
Yesterday, late, Hilary started drinking excessively large amounts of fluids. She literally could not satisfy her thirst. I worried that she was probably developing Diabetes Insipidus (DI), a condition that has nothing to do with “sugar” diabetes. With DI, as I understand it, there is a deficiency of anti-diuretic hormone, which is produced in the hypothalamus and excreted from the pituitary gland, then sent to the kidneys with a message to filter more blood and make more urine, thereby making the patient more thirsty. If the patient does not replace the fluids, they will become dehydrated leading to an imbalance in their electrolytes. We called Dr Akright, Hilary’s new endocrinologist, and she agreed that she needed to see her this morning. She agrees that Hil has developed DI, probably from the Gamma Knife radiation in July. She was started on DDAVP, a form of vasopressin, to take every 12 hours in an effort to regulate her body’s fluid status.
After this, Connie took Hilary to her second hyperbaric O2 treatment for her right eye. She did well, again, but the doctor there told them he feels Hil should have treatments Monday through Friday at least through Dec 29. We filled out the school homebound forms yesterday, Dr. Akright signed them, and we faxed them back to the school. I guess we’ll cross that bridge next week with the school counselor. Oh, boy.
Miller
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