Mark in the hospital

Hi everyone. I decided to update on the blog instead of texting and calling everyone every time there is an update. If you're wondering if there is something new, just check here!

Mark has been suffering from lung/chest pain and shortness of breath for about a month, since he came down with bronchitis over Christmas. A chest x-ray was ordered to check for pneumonia and they saw that he has nodules in his lungs. Next they ordered a CT scan for more details and were able to measure them, etc. His primary care Dr said they could be an array of things from benign (harmless) to cancer. Mark made an appt with a pulmonologist for Feb 14th but this past week got sick again and was really short of breath so on Friday went to the ER.

ER doc did blood work and found his number that indicates blood clots to be extremely high (normal is 0-.5, his was 13) so they ordered another CT scan after injecting him with iodine which highlights where the clots are. He has many clots in both lungs, which is of course highly unusual for someone his age, as well as very dangerous. The dr told him he would have not lasted 2 more days if he hadn't come in. Scary.

So he was admitted to the ICU on Fri night, and has been put on a blood thinner IV (heparin) as well as a blood thinning pill (coumadin). The idea is to get his levels right using both of those, then get him off the IV and solely on the oral med so he can come home. His INR number (indicates blood thinness) needs to be at 2 to come home, and now it is 1.5. It has been at 1.2 the past few days so hopefully his body is now responding to the medication and it will move more rapidly.

The pulmonologist at the hospital thinks he has valley fever which would explain the nodules but not the clots. The results for VF come back today or tomorrow (hopefully), and we will move on from there to test for other illnesses like blood disorders and lung cancer. He will get a pet scan (which screens for cancer) after he is released from the hospital either way, and if it comes back positive, he will have a biopsy.

That's the update. Lots of people are offering to watch the girls, bring us dinner, etc so I can go be with him as much as possible. We are very grateful for everyone's prayers and service. I know I am being strengthened and sustained by the Lord during this crazy time.

Some questions people ask:

How does Mark feel? He feels pretty much normal, so he is studying and watching tv and stuff. I'm glad he's not in constant pain or something. He has occasional chest pain still but the pulmonologist said that is normal.

How am I feeling? I am feeling fine physically, in fact better than I did before Mark went to the hospital (tender mercy). I have 5 more weeks of pregnancy to go, and I am so grateful that I'm NOT due at any moment. Wow, that would be stressful. Emotionally I feel drained but I feel like I have more energy and patience than normal with the girls. They are also feeling Mark's absence and cry for him here and there, but I'm trying to keep our routine as normal as possible which is helping. We got skype to work yesterday so we got to see him on the computer which was fun for them.

Do I need anything? Right now it's sort of on a day to day basis so I'm not really sure. We have dinners coming for the next few days, and people are lined up to watch the girls. We can always use prayers. :-)

We love you all and again, thank you for all your support.