Three steps forward, one step sideways

Health update

First, the very good news:

• My bone marrow remains clean
• My PET/CT scan was clean
• My belly fluid was clean

​Now for the sideways news: in the spirit of completeness, my oncologist wants to understand the cause of those 2.75 liters of belly fluid that were drained earlier this week. That's because it could indicate a malfunctioning liver and we need a fully-functional liver before initiating the transplant process.

To that end, they performed an ultrasound scan of my liver today and those results should be available tomorrow. If the liver isn't the culprit, then they will look elsewhere for the cause of that fluid. Will they look indefinitely until a cause is found? Not necessarily, because even in this 21st-century world of high-tech medicine, some issues remain idiopathic (my favorite "doctor word") in origin.

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Tidbit

The tidbit is on hiatus today, given the brevity of this post. Check back next time for a new and exciting tidbit. Until then, I'll leave you with this picture of a very cute baby hedgehog.

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