09/14/04 - Terry Brown

David Now In Renal Failure...

As of about 3:00PM today, David's kidneys quit functioning. His medical team's lead surgeon called me at work at about 5:00PM. This is how things are now looking. David has so much edemitis (swelling) in his abdomen that it is putting pressure on all of his other internal organs. His kidneys have totally shut down and as of about 3:00PM his body has quit producing urine. They have also had to increase his ventilator support and he is on about three different medications for his heart, in hopes that he will respond to something. His doctor put it to me like this, if they do nothing and let nature take it's course, it's pretty much the end for David. The only other choice is to perform surgery, which they fear he may not be able to survive another massive abdominal surgery. She asked me what I thought David would want them to do. I made the call to risk the surgery than to do nothing. I know at one point David said that he would fight this thing to the bitter end, and I have to respect his wishes! I don't know how people make these kinds of decisions...it's the hardest thing I've ever had to do, knowing that I can lose him either way. Im not going to stay on the computer long tonight as I want to keep the phone lines clear. The doctors were supposed to have a group consultation tonight about 7:00PM and between everyone involved they were going to decide the safest way to proceed where David is concerned. I will go with whatever they decide, as they are the experts. Just wish I had better news to report tonight.

Terry