Gina in St. Luke's Hospital

A few hours after Kaden and his crew left our house last Sunday, Gina got sick. At first I thought it was H1N1 because it hit her so hard, so quickly. And she felt very hot to me, so I figured she had a fever. I alerted everyone who had been over here, but it turned out she had no fever and it was not the flu after all.

Within 24 hours Gina had to go to the bathroom over 20 times. I was afraid she might be getting dehydrated and so we called our family medical expert, Lori, to ask if we should go to the urgent care center. She said to go. We did, and she was admitted from there to St Luke's Hospital where she remains. Still unsure when she will be released.

Tests on her fecal samples turned up negative for virus, bacteria, and parasites as causes of her sudden onset of diarrhea. She also had a CAT scan of her colon which was negative for indicators of colitis. The X-ray showed a liver lesion, so another CT scan of her liver has been ordered. Not sure if it will actually be performed this weekend, but the GI doc said that she could have it done as an outpatient so there still may be hope for her to be discharged before I go to Galveston next week for the Texas Association of County Auditors annual conference.

The whole time she has been on a Jell-O and clear liquid only diet until today. She got soup and Carnation Breakfast in a can. She's lost over 5 pounds this week. The most disturbing thing to me, although it seemed of very little consequence to her attending physician, was the increase in her INR level. Finally got that under control and today she's only been to the potty 3 times.

My family has been incredibly supportive, as they were last year when she was in St. Luke's from the pulmonary embolism. I googled "liver lesion" and found that they often are determined to be hepatic adenoma or hemangioma, which is an uncommon benign liver tumor associated with the use of hormonal contraception with a high estrogen content. Once again, it seems that Gina's being put on YAZ has caused a problem for her. First the pulmonary embolism. Now this.