A New Regimen

Greetings Loyal Readers,

So here's the scoop, Mom saw the Cotton Troll last Friday and was prescribed Lovenox to help stop the fluid build-up in her belly.  Don't let the name fool you though, there's very little love in Lovenox.  It's actually a medicine that Mom needs to shoot into her belly 2x/day.
Ahh, YFC heard that collective groan from his Loyal Readers.  He appreciates your empathy.  More importantly, Mom appreciates it.  Don't ask YFC how he knows, he just knows.

As if Friday wasn't enough, Mom also saw The Troll today.  She said that the fluid build-up was due to a partial blood clot in Mom's inferior vena cava (or "IVC" to those in the know).  Your Faithful Correspondent wasn't going to hear of it though.  He said that Mom's vena cava wasn't inferior to anything or anyone.  Then the Troll explained that she wasn't judging Mom's vena cava; rather she explained that the IVC is the vein that carries de-oxygenated blood from the lower part of the body to the heart.
Apparently Mom also has a superior vena cava and believe it or not, you do too!  So for my Loyal Readers who are more scientifically inclined, feel free to refer to the handy-dandy diagram that's provided for you, at right.

After Mom was poked, prodded and given the once over, the Troll decided to put Mom on a new regimen of sorts. Henceforth, Mom will have a standing appointment for paracentesis (you kiddies might prefer to say "draining" cuz it's significantly easier on the tongue) every Monday and Thursday.  Hopefully, this means less time spent at the hospital.  Unfortunately, Mom needed to be drained today and since she was an "add-on," we had to wait about 2 hours before she could go in.  That's the bad news.  Thegood news is that Mom tied her record and had another 3.75 liters of fluid drained away.  With any luck, Mom should be done with this draining nonsense in 2-3 weeks.

It's fair to say that Mom is extremely anxious to end this whole water collection nonsense.  Lately she's been feeling a lot like Ms. Violet Beauregarde (in case the name's not ringin' a bell, that's her at left) of Willy Wonka fame, with the major difference being that Mom didn't turn blue (of course, she didn't get to feel like she was eating a blueberry pie either).   So, if you've called Mom and she didn't get back to you, please realize that it's nothing personal; she just hasn't been feeling her sprightly self as of late.  You do understand don't you?  Of course you do.  And that's just one of the 37 reasons why YFC loves you so.

Well kiddies, you're all caught up now and YFC is sleepy.  Whaddya say we call it quits, eh?

Much love to all.

Faithfully,

Corey