Unwanted Complication and Revisit to the Hospital

Sunday night Meghan and I decided to catch a last second date at the Vanderbilt Emergency Room. It was not what we wanted, but we knew something needed to happen. 

For that last two weeks, I have been battling what we thought was a post-op infection. The doctors was dosing me with some heavy antibiotics and it seemed to be working. The area that showed as an infection was reduced to approximately 1/2 in diameter and was showing continued signs of improvement. The weird thing about it was that I continued to feel bad and my appetite continued to decrease - to the point where I at the equivalent of a single slice of a medium pizza and was completely full, which is not me esp. with pizza.

We talked with my physician prior to going to the hospital, and he stated that we are going to bring in the "big boy antibiotics" (Brent term) to wipe the infection out. So, we arrive at the hospital around 7.45 for our fun-filled adventure....

The ER was notified prior to our arrival and they had us through triage and in a room within 20 min. of arriving, which was a blessing (very thankful for a very proactive urological oncology team). We were admitted and finally got to our room around 1.30 Monday morning. Dr. Chang arrived first thing Monday morning with some surprising news...what we thought was an infection is actually a chylous ascites, or a lymphatic leak. One of the areas where a lymph node was removed is leaking lymphatic fluid. The chances of this happening is 1:20,000, which is very rare. Dr. Chang has never had this happen to him in all of his years of practice.

So, to rid my body of this leakage, we have to slow the production of the lymphatic fluid so the area that is leaking can scar over an stop on its own. This could take anywhere from 2 weeks to several months. The main treatment of this is to stop eating all solid foods. There is a direct correlation to the food we eat and the amount of chyle that is created in the lymphatic system. I have been placed on TPN, which is direct IV nutrition. I can have a few clear liquids, but nothing more. Monday, they removed approx. 11 lbs of lymphatic fluid off my body and today. I am a scheduled to have more fluid removed tomorrow

Physically, I feel better than I have since surgery - Mentally, I feel great - Spiritually, I feel refreshed and at peace

A friend of mine, Charles Spencer (Chuck), and I were talking about this and feel there is a lot of spiritual warfare going on with this current battle. I know that God is in control of this and I know that He is going to battle for us. We are going to defeat this and He is going to be victorious in the expansion of His Kingdom.

Thank you for the continued prayers, visits, support, meals and thoughts....