Friday, June 12, 2009

This morning Tommy and I headed out to get the tests done that Dr. Caruso ordered. We left the house at 6:15 for Beebe Hospital up in Lewes. There, in a single session, Tommy was given two separate tests--an MRI, and also an MRCP (similar to an MRI, and also non-contrast, but targeted more closely at the biliary system-and-liver region than the MRI). On the way home, we stopped at the Beebe system's walk-in blood lab for the blood test (to get Tommy's current liver numbers). When we got home, Dr. Caruso had already called and wanted to discuss the results of the MRCP, which had just been phoned to him (he is a really good doc). Dr. Caruso says the MRCP shows a significant gall stone (about 1 cm. in diameter) in the common bile duct, and he would like to remove it at the hospital at Milford Hospital late next week. His office is contacting Dr. Peet (Tommy's neurologist) to see if it will be okay to stop Tommy's daily aspirin tablet starting Monday, to minimize the chance of hemorrhaging during the procedure. Basically, Dr. Caruso will go down Tommy's throat and digestive system with a high-tech fishing rod and find the stone and somehow get rid of it. Tommy should be ok to go home later in the day unless there is a complication (pretty rare). So, by the end of Monday, we should have a plan in place.