Wednesday, April 15, 2015

BAL tomorrow (Wed)

Ava will get a bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) done tomorrow (Wednesday) to determine if Ava has a viral or fungal pneumonia. The procedure involves inserting a scope through the mouth/nose to the lungs, and injecting fluid to collect cells. The fluid is then collected for examination. The BAL is the procedure that only catches the presence of fungus 20% of the time and can also give false negatives.

Ava's oxygen saturation continues to be in the low 80's when breathing on her own, so she is getting a decent amount of supplemental oxygen (2.5 L). The doctors are also looking into the possibility that Ava may have some lung damage as a result of radiation.

As you can imagine, it's quite a juggle with 3 kids to care for, one being a newborn. Thanks for your continued prayers for Ava, as well as for stamina, rest and peace for the entire Lee family.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Esther and Mike,

I am Leway Chen's brother in law and the Chief of Pediatric Pulmonology at the University of Rochester. I know all the pediatric pulmonologists at Lurie quite well. If there is anything I can do to help please let me know.

Clement Ren

Anonymous said...

Sorry. Just realized you might not have my contact info. Best way to reach me is by email: clement_ren@urmc.rochester.edu