CALLING ALL ANGELS!

"I foresee a Christmas miracle," someone said in a post last week.

There are new developments here, and a miracle is what we need.

The Pee Report: Since that 1/2 cup on Friday, there's been virtually nothing.  Last night the nurses did an "in and out" urinary catheter and extracted 3 cc's -- maybe half a teaspoon.  I never knew how precious pee is.  Of course I knew that without it, we can't expel toxins from our body . . .

But we have an even bigger challenge than renal failure now . . .

I know -- what could possibly be more serious than kidney failure?

Well, Cam's white blood cell count spiked last night to 41,000. (Remember, it's been 31,000 for about 12 days, and someone who's had his spleen removed should only be up to 15 or 20,000 for a couple weeks. Normal count is about 5,000).

In addition, he and a fever of 101.9 during the night.

These two pieces of information bring up the question of infection . . . again.

Another CT scan is happening this very moment. It's scary because this time (unlike the last), they feel it's essential to use contrast dye to get the most accurate picture possible to spot infection (abscess, etc).  The nephrologist (kidney doctor) stopped by to say that they usually say "never" to contrast dye for a dialysis patient.

But Cam's surgical oncologist says that missing (overlooking) an abdominal infection right now is more serious than kidney damage.

But the nephrologist says there's a risk of permanent dialysis.

Okay. It's done. So now let's pray the kidneys are doing ninja kicks to that contrast dye.