Joe Update

Never really thought that I would use my blog this way, but it seems like the easiest way to get information to everyone all at once without plugging in all the e-mail addresses, which seems somewhat overwhelming at this moment in time.

As most of you know by now, Joe was diagnosed with a blood clot at Banner Gateway on Friday morning. Friday afternoon he was moved to Good Samaritan, where he underwent a procedure to insert a catheter up his arm (using dye and live x-rays) and to the clot, where it dripped a super powerful drug called TNP directly onto the clot. The clot was located in his subclavian vein and was 9 centimeters long. He continued to have this drug (along with many others) throughout the night on Friday night. Friday night was very uncomfortable for Joe. He could not move the arm with the catheter in it, he was not allowed out of bed, he was nauseous, and his vitals, including frequent blood draws, went on all night long.

Saturday brought better news. Around 10:30, they took him back in to see the progress on the clot. Amazingly, the clot was gone! The doctor was able to pull out the last few pieces... and removed the catheter from the arm. And then Joe got to eat, which was pretty much one of the best parts of the day for him! :)

The doctors believe that the clot was caused by thoracic outlet syndrome. This is a congenital defect in which either the nerves, the artery or the vein is trapped between the clavicle and the top rib of the rib cage. Joe has probably had this his entire life. The clot has built over time, and the final straw was the canyoneering trip that he took to Zion last weekend... carrying a backpack full of rope put a lot of pressure on that exact spot... causing the final total occlusion of the vein. You can read more about thoracic outlet syndrome here. The cure is to remove the top rib on his right side.

The next question I'm sure is "What's next?" Joe and I would LOVE to know the answer to that. Here is what we know to this point. He needs to have his top rib removed. He is also on a great deal of blood thinners... and this does not go well with surgery. We are waiting to hear from the ONE surgeon who does this procedure at Good Sam. He will come and meet with us either tomorrow or Monday and share his game plan. The downside of doing the surgery right away... after just having a blood clot, it is dangerous to take Joe off of the blood thinners for the several days that he would need in order to have the surgery. The upside of doing the surgery right away is that the likelihood that the clot will reappear is high... and he won't have to go through this again. At some point, they will also need to find out IF he has this syndrome on both sides of his body. We will also need to work closely with a hematologist to determine if there are any OTHER factors coming into play here... Joe will have some extensive testing over the next few weeks to determine if other treatment is needed. He will also be on blood thinners for anywhere between the next three months to the rest of his life. How is that for a range?

Our biggest hope for tomorrow (but realistically Monday) is to get ALL of the doctors in one room at the same time to talk about how to move forward. Joe currently has four different doctors, who as far as we can tell- have never actually talked to each other. Joe requested that this happen before we move forward with more treatment. :)

Good news for tonight is that Joe is resting comfortably and the nurses will not have to bother him quite as much this evening. They have also promised to let him be wheeled downstairs tomorrow and out the front door of the hospital for 5 minutes so that he can see the kids (H1N1... no kids under 12 can set foot in the hospital!). I know that visit is his focus for right now!

Thank you everybody for your thoughts, prayers and well wishes. My kids are doing great... Nana and Papa have stepped in and made them feel safe and loved. Joe's brother Jason and his wife Paige have our Ellie- who is actually doing better for those of you who have been following that saga! Thanks for all the phone calls, e-mails and messages. I am pretty much taking care of Joe and sleeping for right now, so I hope that you all understand my lack of responsiveness. Thank you for all of the offers of help... for right now, we have everything that we need. This may change once Joe is out of the hospital... and if it does, I promise I will let you all know. Thanks again for the huge amounts of love and prayers that have gone out to my family in the past few days.

Okay, off to bed. I hope this post makes sense! I will try to keep you all updated when I have the chance. Love to you all!
C