Heather Update: Day 2

Today was a 'busy' day for Heather. 

They are currently treating her for Hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) which is an abnormal premature destruction of red blood cells. It is something that mainly children get but clearly adults can get it too. It is from a certian strain of E. Coli. They do not know where the E. coli came from and frankly they don't care and we will never know. It is not a 100% diagnosis because the blood tests she had done Tuesday/Wednesday have not come back to confirm but they think this is what they are dealing with and are treating it as such. They also talked about it potentially being Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP). From what I understand the treatment is similar for both diagnoses. 

The first thing they needed to do was a blood transfusion. Her hemoglobin level was down to 6.4 when it should be between 12 and 16. I was able to sit with Heather today and was there when they were giving her the blood which seemed to give her a boost in energy (I use 'energy' as a relative term meaning she didn't fall asleep on me:).

This afternoon, after I left, she started a procedure called Plasmapheresis. This is the process of removing the plasma from her blood and replacing it with healthy plasma. It's done with a big machine that takes her blood out, separates the plasma out, then adds the good plasma back into her blood. 

As of 8 tonight she was done with the Plasmapheresis and was starting her second round of dialysis. 

My parents went up there tonight and said she was doing 'much better' than last night. She was able to talk to them and was much more alert. 

Pleas continue to pray, pray, pray! 

*Thank you to everyone who has offered to help out with various things. We are grateful to have such loving and caring people around us.