SURGERY DATE JUST CHANGED!!!

Piper’s surgery date to have her kidneys removed has been postponed until the beginning of October. Unfortunately, Piper’s hemoglobin is low (between 8 and 9) which creates a couple of problems:

1. With her hemoglobin this low the chance of her needing a blood transfusion during the surgery is high. This is something we are trying to avoid because she could then develop antibodies that could potentially prevent Chris from being able to donate his kidney.

2. A hemoglobin this low is a concern with her anesthesia because she needs the iron to carry the oxygen. ( I don’t have more information on the “why” for that)

The deciding factor for the doctors is that Piper’s low hemoglobin is a higher overall risk than the chance of her developing a tumor at this point. The doctors have increased the amount of medication used to increase her hemoglobin during dialysis but it’s a slow process which takes about 3 weeks. We will continue with dialysis 4 times a week and monitor blood pressure as best we can. Piper will also have 1 or 2 ultrasounds to make sure there are no changes from her baseline that would raise concern of a tumor. If needed, Piper can also have another echocardiogram to make sure her blood pressure isn’t causing any heart issues but at this point that is not expected because things look good with her heart.

So many have reached out and given us support. Please know that all of the thoughts, prayers, messages, meals, hugs, babysitting etc. is so greatly appreciated. We are so very blessed to have so many wonderful and incredibly generous people in our lives. We have truly been moved to tears. Thank you so very much!

Love,

Chris and Erin

PS I’m sure Chris will have another post that is much more eloquent than this. : )

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