The bad news is that the blood flow in my left jugular has relapsed back to the wrong direction. The doctor thinks the balloon used to stretch the jugular momentarily allowed the blood to flow properly, but over time the jugular shrank back to it's smaller size, forcing the blood to find an easier route through my neck. The easier route was backward.
Since I'm not having any symptoms from it, he decided not to do a xenograft to determine if the reversed blood flow was due to a new clot or the small size of the jugular. He assured me that my body will compensate and form collateral veins. He also mentioned that I have a really beautiful right jugular vein that can handle the blood flow from my head on its own. The doctor told us that this shouldn't affect my quality of life or lifespan. It's just something I need to keep in mind so that I'm attentive to any symptoms that may pop up.
Another piece of bad news: the pediatrician diagnosed poor little Zachary with C-Diff this week. We'll never know if I originally got it for him or if he caught it from me :( Wow, how did we go from the family with no medical problems to the family with cancer, norovirus, and C-Diff all in a few months? Thankfully, Zachary doesn't seem to be bothered by it in the least. As long as he has a toy train in each hand, he's happy!
I don't want to end this post on bad news. At the end of this cycle I'll hopefully be half way done!!! That will be my mantra for getting through the bad days this time around.
I can't believe you are almost half way through! You are amazing...I can't believe that even though you are going through all of this, you had the thought to send ME a gift! Thank you again. You are the best sister anyone could ever ask for. It was great hearing your voice today. You sounded stronger than ever. I love you.
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