Still clot busting...

Last night, we spent the night in Zoe's room again. Because of the potential side effects of the tPA we did not want to leave, nor sleep. We were each able to catnap for 2 hours, but otherwise we observed and/or comforted Zoe. She was pretty fussy last night, more so than usual, as she is generally pretty mild-mannered. It appeared she was uncomfortable, although with IV's in three of four appendages she had every right to be pissed.

They ran a blood test at 3:00 a.m. which appeared normal. Every hour the nurse checked Zoe's neurological status and the sites of all her IV's, for bleeding (a side effect of the tPA).

Zoe also had an ultrasound of her head to make sure there was no brain hemorrhaging as a result of the tPA. Fortunately, the head ultrasound was normal.

This morning Zoe had another ultrasound of her right leg, so the physicians could assess what effect, if any, the tPA had on the arterial clot. The ultrasound came back the same as the last one, but the doctors could feel, and hear, a stronger pulse on the foot of the clotted leg. Hematology and cardiology consulted and agreed that based upon the pulses and appearance of the leg, the tPA seems to be working, and it's not abnormal that after 18 hours of tPA the occluded clot is not altered. They agreed to leave the dose the same and obtain another ultrasound of the clotted leg tomorrow morning. Zoe also had another chest x-ray this afternoon, but the results are not yet back.

Overall, while the ultrasound was status quo, the doctors seem confident that the tPA is working away trying to bust the clot. Hopefully, we will see good progress on the Saturday morning ultrasound. Once the clot is dealt with, Zoe can have all three IV's removed, then we can lift her out of bed and hold her again. Plus she will be exponentially more comfortable.

We will probably stay in the room again tonight. We'll update again when we have more information.