Marsha’s Story

Site created on February 27, 2010

Marsha has been struggling with health concerns for a number of years.  Two months ago her kidneys significantly declined in function.  About four weeks ago she had a kidney biopsy to determine the cause of the decline.  After waiting for three weeks for the results Marsha started to to develop what is known as Renaud's Syndrome and swelling occurred in her extremities.  She was in a great deal of pain because of the swelling.  The pain was so much she visited the ER on 17th of February.  By the following Friday we were in Wichita getting tests run again to see if it might be an autoimmune disease.  The blood work showed no signs of autoimmune diseases.  They kept doing blood work and did ekg's, chest x-rays, and an echo.  The saw something on the echo, but because of the inaccuracy of the echo they did a heart cath to verify the pressure of the pulmonary artery (PA).  The numbers were correct and they measured her PA pressure at 100 hg (normal is 20-30hg).  She has severe pulmonary hypertension.  This happens when the blood vessels in the lungs are restricted and the heart has to increase pressure to pump blood into the lungs.  This pressure in the PA backs up into the right ventricle and the left side of the heart causing decreased blood flow to the body.  During the heart cath her blood pressure dropped and they about lost her.  We moved tothe coronary care unit at Wesley Hospital in Wichita.  They are infusing Marsha with Flolan (which tries to dilate the blood vessels in the lungs) at 2 nanograms every 10 hrs and normally the infuse at 2 nanos every 1-2 weeks.  She is on 3 pressors to keep her blood pressure up until the Flolan dilates the blood vessels.  She is stable with the medicine but her heart is very sick and weak.  She has maintained blood pressure for about 24 hrs and continues to slowly improve.  By doctor's standards Marsha should not be alive, but we know our God is the Great Physician, our creator and sustainer.  We have a long road ahead, but my wife amazes everyone around her, even me, with her perseverance, strength, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Newest Update

Journal entry by Matt Shelor

It's been a long day.  We started at 930 with the first appointment and left after 500.   But we saw three doctors and she had an echo.  We didn't learn much new information but confirmed what we already new.  Her kidney function is slightly decreasing and her pulmonary artery pressures are continuing to inch up.  Her estimated pressures from the echo was 76 and the right side of her heart is on the border between moderately to severely enlarged.  The discussion es today centered around what to do next.  The Drs want to add a new PH medicine which is super expensive and has to be approved by insurance along with at some point starting plasmapheresis again to calm the underlying disease.  They are checking a bunch of labs to make sure they weren't missing anything.  So we are waiting on approval and labs to be checked to determine the next course of action.

God continues to be good by supplying the best Drs.  Pray for wisdom for the Drs and insurance approval.  

Matt
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