Roy Report 2/13/2019

Today Roy saw his PCP for a two week follow-up. Both the nurse and the doctor said he looked better than he had the last time. He’s not as yellow – more pale than jaundiced – and he’s more alert or as the nurse put it, “perky.” He will go back to see his PCP in a month.

The lab results have been located! We are still waiting for the hepatologist to weigh in and give Roy his instructions, but we at least have the labs. It seems they went to the wrong doctor for evaluation which given how many doctors he saw in January is not completely surprising. Nonetheless, the situation is sorted and the results are tied to his patient files.

The good news is that Roy is improving. His weight is dropping which means the fluid is coming off of his body. There’s still some sloshing around in him but not as much. Given the change in his color from marigold to pink petal, it is not a complete surprise that his bilirubin level dropped over the past two weeks. He’s only at an elevated rate of 5.2 as of Monday (down from 7.2 on February 1) and his eyes are no longer showing the signs. His liver function indicators are still elevated but not as much. His albumin is still low. So the trend is going in the correct direction in general according to Dr. Sterling, but we will be waiting for Dr. Asrani, his hepatologist, to weigh in on what the next steps might be.

We secured the FMLA paperwork today. A free tip for any of you that have to get that done in future (and a wish that it never be part of your experience), the family practice physician is the one that needs to complete it and any of it that you can complete for them in advance is most appreciated.

Roy went out and walked some more this afternoon while I went to the Mazda dealership for car repairs. I feel better about our next trip to Dallas (currently first week of March) knowing the car has gotten new brake pads and a full check-up.

Again for the scorekeepers, here are the most recent numbers from February 11:

• Total Bilirubin 5.2 (normal range 0.3-1.2)
• Sodium 134 (normal range 132-146)
• Potassium 4.5 (normal range 3.5-5.5)
• Alkaline Phosphatase 170 (normal range 46-116)
• SGOT (AST) 73 (normal range 0-33)
• SGPT (ALT) 60 (normal range 10-49)
• Total Protein 6.3 (normal range 5.7-8.2)
• Albumin 2.8 (normal range 3.4-5.0)
• Creatinine 0.74 (normal range 0.70-1.30)