colonoscopy question (liver abscess) the boyfriend
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Hi everyone, I thought I'd give an update.
After 8 days in the hospital on IV antibiotics Dusty was released. He also takes culturelle 2x per day and 8 ounce of kefir per day per his infectious disease Doc.
His job situation was kind of stressful and I finally had to deploy some of the Al-Anon phrases that I learned in my sporadic Al-Anon attendance since the holidays due to two family alcoholics that are not in recovery. Anytime I got stressed about his job situation I told myself "Let Go and Let God", "First things first", and "One Day, ONe hour, one minute at a time". Repeating these phrases to myself really helped in relieving stress in situations that were out of my control. My girlfriend at the other hospital gave him an open ended job offer in her department if anything goes south with his job. Lower pay but state of Florida retirement and really good health insurance. She said she would bring him on any month, week or day.
Dusty is doing really well. After release he had to have clindamycin 900 mg 3 x per day administered through his picc line. I got really good at that.
The first week home he mostly rested and needed to. I cooked giant gluten free farm style meals. We ate really good! Breakfast was always eggs and bacon or GF french toast and bacon. At discharge he was 160 pounds. 5'10". Four months ago he was 196 pounds when all of this started.
Week two after discharge he went into work for 4 hour days. He let out a rebel yell whoop in the garage when I took him to his first day of work as he was so happy.
Week two he was still on the IV antibiotics and still had 3 drains inplanted in his liver. He put the drains in a fanny pack and tucked it under his shirt.
At the end of week two he had another scan and as a result of his scan they wanted to rearrange one of his drains. I took him over to the hospital and we thought it would be a quick one hour visit. It was not to be. He overnighted again in the hospital due to risk of liver bleeding after rearranging the liver drains. We checked out of the hospital and he now has two drains as they removed one and he just started on oral antibiotics 600 mg clyndamycin 3x per day. He still has to chug kefir and take culturelle. I told him he has got to take the antibiotic on a full stomach due to IBD risk.
He is now working full time. His hair changed dramatically. Prior to all of this happening it was thinning in a 54 year old way. Now it looks like baby chicken down.
After 8 days in the hospital on IV antibiotics Dusty was released. He also takes culturelle 2x per day and 8 ounce of kefir per day per his infectious disease Doc.
His job situation was kind of stressful and I finally had to deploy some of the Al-Anon phrases that I learned in my sporadic Al-Anon attendance since the holidays due to two family alcoholics that are not in recovery. Anytime I got stressed about his job situation I told myself "Let Go and Let God", "First things first", and "One Day, ONe hour, one minute at a time". Repeating these phrases to myself really helped in relieving stress in situations that were out of my control. My girlfriend at the other hospital gave him an open ended job offer in her department if anything goes south with his job. Lower pay but state of Florida retirement and really good health insurance. She said she would bring him on any month, week or day.
Dusty is doing really well. After release he had to have clindamycin 900 mg 3 x per day administered through his picc line. I got really good at that.
The first week home he mostly rested and needed to. I cooked giant gluten free farm style meals. We ate really good! Breakfast was always eggs and bacon or GF french toast and bacon. At discharge he was 160 pounds. 5'10". Four months ago he was 196 pounds when all of this started.
Week two after discharge he went into work for 4 hour days. He let out a rebel yell whoop in the garage when I took him to his first day of work as he was so happy.
Week two he was still on the IV antibiotics and still had 3 drains inplanted in his liver. He put the drains in a fanny pack and tucked it under his shirt.
At the end of week two he had another scan and as a result of his scan they wanted to rearrange one of his drains. I took him over to the hospital and we thought it would be a quick one hour visit. It was not to be. He overnighted again in the hospital due to risk of liver bleeding after rearranging the liver drains. We checked out of the hospital and he now has two drains as they removed one and he just started on oral antibiotics 600 mg clyndamycin 3x per day. He still has to chug kefir and take culturelle. I told him he has got to take the antibiotic on a full stomach due to IBD risk.
He is now working full time. His hair changed dramatically. Prior to all of this happening it was thinning in a 54 year old way. Now it looks like baby chicken down.
Hi everyone,
I wrote an update several days ago but lost it before it saved so I thought I would reattempt.
After 8 days in the hospital Dusty was released with 3 drains connected to his 3 abscesses and Sonster and I were trained on administering his IV antibiotics. He took another week off of work as there was really no way he could work and he was pretty wiped out from the hospital stay. I administered his Clindamycin 900 mg via his PICC line at 6:00 am, 2:00 pm and 10:00 pm. It took about 45 minutes but the antibiotic was self feeding so he could walk around and do things during the process. He had the IV antibiotics at the home for two weeks concurrent with the 3 drain lines. Week 2 after the release he went into work for 4 hours a day running the register at the shop. He put his drains (each one is about the size of a hand grenade) in a fanny pack and wore his shirt tail out. At the end of week two we reported back to the hospital for more scans and they wanted to look at his drains. He ended up with another overnight at the hospital as they removed one drain and realigned another drain. He is down to two drains and he is now taking Clindamycin 600 mg ORALLY YEA 3X per day. He gets a weekly scan to check on things. He goes in tomorrow for another drain reevaluation. We are hoping they will be removed but we're not sure about that as 3 docs have to consult.
I've been cooking giant farmstyle GF breakfasts and dinners. We're eating really good! When this all started in February with high fever he was at 196 pounds 5' 10". He got down to 160 pounds. I think he is back to around 173 pounds now.
On his days off I'm making him rest and lay out in the sun reading to get some vitamin D.
UPDATE ON ME: One day while he was in the hospital I woke up with huge memory problems (age 54). Scary. I immediately knew the cause. I had forgotten my absorbable B's for 3 days in a row. I'd been by default eating hi carb low fat. I usually eat pretty high fat and low carb. I had not eaten any fish or avocado in over a month. I put a heaping teaspoon of coconut oil in my morning tea (I don't usually do this) but this is a la the bulletproof coffee paleo guy. I had two cups of tea with 2 tsp of coconut oil and by lunch my memory was back to normal. I'm back on my higher fat lower carb regimen with absorbable B's etc and no memory issues.
The infectious disease doc has Dusty taking Culturelle 2x per day and drinking kefir throughout the day to help prevent C Diff and D. I told Dusty he is at pretty high risk for UC or MC due to the meds so he is drinking a lot of the kefir.
We'll never really know the cause of the 3 liver abscesses and they certainly tested him enough to try to find out the cause. The most likely cause is from diverticulitis inflammation in which a pathogen traveled from his colon to his liver. This is a first world problem. Third world people don't get diverticulitis.
Dusty has always eaten a heavily processed dollar menu diet since it is cheap. He also buys heavily from the Publix 2/1 processed food specials. EATING A HEAVILY PROCESSED DIET IS NO VALUE IF IT RISKS YOUR LIFE ETC. I now have him eating less processed and more fruits and veggies.
Thanks for all of your support!
Brandy
I wrote an update several days ago but lost it before it saved so I thought I would reattempt.
After 8 days in the hospital Dusty was released with 3 drains connected to his 3 abscesses and Sonster and I were trained on administering his IV antibiotics. He took another week off of work as there was really no way he could work and he was pretty wiped out from the hospital stay. I administered his Clindamycin 900 mg via his PICC line at 6:00 am, 2:00 pm and 10:00 pm. It took about 45 minutes but the antibiotic was self feeding so he could walk around and do things during the process. He had the IV antibiotics at the home for two weeks concurrent with the 3 drain lines. Week 2 after the release he went into work for 4 hours a day running the register at the shop. He put his drains (each one is about the size of a hand grenade) in a fanny pack and wore his shirt tail out. At the end of week two we reported back to the hospital for more scans and they wanted to look at his drains. He ended up with another overnight at the hospital as they removed one drain and realigned another drain. He is down to two drains and he is now taking Clindamycin 600 mg ORALLY YEA 3X per day. He gets a weekly scan to check on things. He goes in tomorrow for another drain reevaluation. We are hoping they will be removed but we're not sure about that as 3 docs have to consult.
I've been cooking giant farmstyle GF breakfasts and dinners. We're eating really good! When this all started in February with high fever he was at 196 pounds 5' 10". He got down to 160 pounds. I think he is back to around 173 pounds now.
On his days off I'm making him rest and lay out in the sun reading to get some vitamin D.
UPDATE ON ME: One day while he was in the hospital I woke up with huge memory problems (age 54). Scary. I immediately knew the cause. I had forgotten my absorbable B's for 3 days in a row. I'd been by default eating hi carb low fat. I usually eat pretty high fat and low carb. I had not eaten any fish or avocado in over a month. I put a heaping teaspoon of coconut oil in my morning tea (I don't usually do this) but this is a la the bulletproof coffee paleo guy. I had two cups of tea with 2 tsp of coconut oil and by lunch my memory was back to normal. I'm back on my higher fat lower carb regimen with absorbable B's etc and no memory issues.
The infectious disease doc has Dusty taking Culturelle 2x per day and drinking kefir throughout the day to help prevent C Diff and D. I told Dusty he is at pretty high risk for UC or MC due to the meds so he is drinking a lot of the kefir.
We'll never really know the cause of the 3 liver abscesses and they certainly tested him enough to try to find out the cause. The most likely cause is from diverticulitis inflammation in which a pathogen traveled from his colon to his liver. This is a first world problem. Third world people don't get diverticulitis.
Dusty has always eaten a heavily processed dollar menu diet since it is cheap. He also buys heavily from the Publix 2/1 processed food specials. EATING A HEAVILY PROCESSED DIET IS NO VALUE IF IT RISKS YOUR LIFE ETC. I now have him eating less processed and more fruits and veggies.
Thanks for all of your support!
Brandy
Dear Brandy,
I just read through this thread. Your boyfriend (and you!) have really been through a lot. I am so glad to hear that he is doing better, and also able to work a few hours a day. Such a relief that he didn't lose his job because of this.
May all continue to go well for you.
Love,
Martha
I just read through this thread. Your boyfriend (and you!) have really been through a lot. I am so glad to hear that he is doing better, and also able to work a few hours a day. Such a relief that he didn't lose his job because of this.
May all continue to go well for you.
Love,
Martha
Martha
Hi everyone,
He got his two drains remaining drains removed yesterday so he said he had really great sleep last night. He did not have to sleep with a fanny pack and two drains on his belly! He is at work right now. He gets to remove his dressing tonight and take his first shower in four weeks!
Apparently what he had is pretty rare. The vascular MD who removed his drains yesterday said he only sees a case like this about once every two or three years. The vasacular MD was curious about the cause so we had a lengthy conversation with him that it was unknown cause. I chalk it up to the inflammatory diet Dusty was on.
Have a great holiday weekend!
Brandy
He got his two drains remaining drains removed yesterday so he said he had really great sleep last night. He did not have to sleep with a fanny pack and two drains on his belly! He is at work right now. He gets to remove his dressing tonight and take his first shower in four weeks!
Apparently what he had is pretty rare. The vascular MD who removed his drains yesterday said he only sees a case like this about once every two or three years. The vasacular MD was curious about the cause so we had a lengthy conversation with him that it was unknown cause. I chalk it up to the inflammatory diet Dusty was on.
Have a great holiday weekend!
Brandy
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Brandy,
Thanks for the update.
This may be (is probably) irrelevant to his case, but the most significant physiological symptom/marker of aflatoxicosis in livestock is liver abscesses. Aflatoxicosis develops as a result of eating corn, peanuts, and occasionally other grains that have an aflatoxin content higher than approximately 50–100 parts per billion (ppb). (The level permitted in human food or livestock or pet feed by USDA, and most government ag regulatory agencies around the world, is 20 ppb, though some set the max limit at 10 ppb.) IOW, aflatoxin tends to gravitate to the liver.
Aflatoxin is a byproduct of a couple of tropical Aspergillus fungi species that are ubiquitous in this country (A. parasiticus and A. flavus), that sometimes develop on corn, peanuts, and occasionally other grains if they are grown under droughty or otherwise stressful conditions. Cottonseed is also notorious for developing high aflatoxin levels (and cottonseed oil is commonly used for frying chips). The fungi can also grow on stored grain, cottonseed, or peanuts if their moisture content is too high during storage. Worldwide, there are several hundred species of Aspergillus molds that are capable of producing aflatoxin.
Aflatoxin content of peanuts and corn especially have been closely monitored by state and federal regulatory agents over the last couple of decades, but prior to that period little was known about them, and the technology for detecting and measuring aflatoxin was not widely available until about 1989–90. When I was in the food corn business (during that time period), it was a major problem, and we had to watch like a hawk to make sure that our corn was always safe, because those were droughty years. Not all processors and food manufacturers were that careful though, especially early on. Note that the liver damage caused by aflatoxin is cumulative (IOW, the lifetime accumulation is what matters, not just discrete doses).
Cattle suffering from serious aflatoxicosis typically lose weight and have a persistent cough. I can remember back prior to the discovery of aflatoxin, after summers in which the corn suffered from a severe drought, during the winter some cows would begin to lose weight and develop a cough. We called it "dust pneumonia" back in those days, not knowing any better. These days, most livers of slaughter cattle are routinely rejected by meat inspectors because of liver abscesses. And the primary cause of those liver abscesses is aflatoxin. Why? Because up to 300 ppb of aflatoxin is allowed in corn fed to slaughter cattle (since they will never be part of the breeding herd, long-term health is not a concern).
The reason why I bring this up is because I can recall that back about 1989–90, the biggest producer of corn chips in this country had a grain elevator down in Uvalde, Texas. The company contracted corn from farmers in that area, and most of the production was irrigated, because the average rainfall around Uvalde is 9—11 inches (near desert conditions). When all the stink about aflatoxin in corn hit the news, this company immediately sold all their facilities in South Texas and moved their Texas operations up to some facilities they already owned in the Panhandle of Texas (on the high plains, where aflatoxin was not a problem), and denied that they had any South Texas connections. I have no doubt that a relatively high percentage of corn chips made from corn produced anywhere south of the high plains (the Panhandle area) of Texas, and virtually anywhere across the South (approximately south of the Mason-Dixon line), and sold following drought years, often contained toxic levels of aflatoxin, because early on at least, no one was aware of the risk, and there was no way to test for it.
Even today, we occasionally hear of a serious issue somewhere that has resulted from contaminated corn somehow slipping through the regulatory system to cause major problems (such as the pet food fiascos that have occurred more than once with certain dog food manufacturers). But in general, the system is working much better these days, and rogue lots of corn that exceed safe aflatoxin limits are becoming rare.
This is just a FYI.
Tex
Thanks for the update.
This may be (is probably) irrelevant to his case, but the most significant physiological symptom/marker of aflatoxicosis in livestock is liver abscesses. Aflatoxicosis develops as a result of eating corn, peanuts, and occasionally other grains that have an aflatoxin content higher than approximately 50–100 parts per billion (ppb). (The level permitted in human food or livestock or pet feed by USDA, and most government ag regulatory agencies around the world, is 20 ppb, though some set the max limit at 10 ppb.) IOW, aflatoxin tends to gravitate to the liver.
Aflatoxin is a byproduct of a couple of tropical Aspergillus fungi species that are ubiquitous in this country (A. parasiticus and A. flavus), that sometimes develop on corn, peanuts, and occasionally other grains if they are grown under droughty or otherwise stressful conditions. Cottonseed is also notorious for developing high aflatoxin levels (and cottonseed oil is commonly used for frying chips). The fungi can also grow on stored grain, cottonseed, or peanuts if their moisture content is too high during storage. Worldwide, there are several hundred species of Aspergillus molds that are capable of producing aflatoxin.
Aflatoxin content of peanuts and corn especially have been closely monitored by state and federal regulatory agents over the last couple of decades, but prior to that period little was known about them, and the technology for detecting and measuring aflatoxin was not widely available until about 1989–90. When I was in the food corn business (during that time period), it was a major problem, and we had to watch like a hawk to make sure that our corn was always safe, because those were droughty years. Not all processors and food manufacturers were that careful though, especially early on. Note that the liver damage caused by aflatoxin is cumulative (IOW, the lifetime accumulation is what matters, not just discrete doses).
Cattle suffering from serious aflatoxicosis typically lose weight and have a persistent cough. I can remember back prior to the discovery of aflatoxin, after summers in which the corn suffered from a severe drought, during the winter some cows would begin to lose weight and develop a cough. We called it "dust pneumonia" back in those days, not knowing any better. These days, most livers of slaughter cattle are routinely rejected by meat inspectors because of liver abscesses. And the primary cause of those liver abscesses is aflatoxin. Why? Because up to 300 ppb of aflatoxin is allowed in corn fed to slaughter cattle (since they will never be part of the breeding herd, long-term health is not a concern).
The reason why I bring this up is because I can recall that back about 1989–90, the biggest producer of corn chips in this country had a grain elevator down in Uvalde, Texas. The company contracted corn from farmers in that area, and most of the production was irrigated, because the average rainfall around Uvalde is 9—11 inches (near desert conditions). When all the stink about aflatoxin in corn hit the news, this company immediately sold all their facilities in South Texas and moved their Texas operations up to some facilities they already owned in the Panhandle of Texas (on the high plains, where aflatoxin was not a problem), and denied that they had any South Texas connections. I have no doubt that a relatively high percentage of corn chips made from corn produced anywhere south of the high plains (the Panhandle area) of Texas, and virtually anywhere across the South (approximately south of the Mason-Dixon line), and sold following drought years, often contained toxic levels of aflatoxin, because early on at least, no one was aware of the risk, and there was no way to test for it.
Even today, we occasionally hear of a serious issue somewhere that has resulted from contaminated corn somehow slipping through the regulatory system to cause major problems (such as the pet food fiascos that have occurred more than once with certain dog food manufacturers). But in general, the system is working much better these days, and rogue lots of corn that exceed safe aflatoxin limits are becoming rare.
This is just a FYI.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Hi Martha and everyone else,
Dusty continues to do well. I've been tired. Martha one thing that helped me with all of his job stress was repeating some of the Al-Anon sayings to myself. The last 6 months I've been in Al-Anon due to two family members that are not in recovery. During Dusty's job stress and uncertainty I kept repeating to myself "Let go and let God." "One day, one hour, one minute at a time." These really helped me minimize stress about things out of my control.
Jean,
He is eating healthier. The colonoscopy technician gave me a 12 page diverticulitis handout while Dusty was in the hospital. The document does not reference eating unprocessed foods but there is one page with sketches of foods that are unprocessed. The sketch page was really helpful and I showed that to Dusty. His food regimen is a work in process but definitely better than pre hospitalization.
Tex,
Thanks for the very interesting and lengthy discussion on aflatoxin. I talked with his GI doc right after his colonoscopy. His GI doc said he could see inflammation during the colonoscopy but he could see no direct link to diverticulitis causing the liver abscess. His liver abscess cause is very speculative, unknown and kind of a default diagnosis. The aflatoxin hypothesis makes as much sense as anything. He grew up on an old school family farm in Ohio so ate unprocessed but moved to Mississippi in 1990 and has lived in the south since then. From age 18 on his grain servings per day probably averaged 11-12 (like mine pre MC.)
Dusty's ancestors are Swedish from North Dakota and we know Swedish folks are grain sensitive.
I started tearing up thinking about the cows with the liver abscesses. I feel bad for the cows. Dusty's experience was that he was really sick...10 day high fever and chills.....followed by extreme fatigue, no appetite and extreme weight loss, and 8 weeks of pain that moved around his chest until his diagnosis in the emergency room. Dusty's case had not advanced to coughing but on his last scan they saw something on his lungs so he gets another scan in a month as they are watching his lungs. Dusty's case had not progressed to the pneumonia level of the cows but he felt pretty darn bad.
I was reading on line that cows, goats and rabbits regularly get liver abscesses from aflatoxins.....why not humans?
I have a neighbor down the street who is the retired professor of cows (not sure what the job title is) at U.F. and before that L.S.U. The next time I see him I think I'll talk to him about aflatoxins and his thoughts on humans?
All of his Dusty's MD's were curious about the cause so I think I'll bring up the aflatoxin hypothesis on our future interactions with his MD's as he is not done with doctor visits. His vascular doc most recently asked us suspected cause and that was before your post. His vascular doc mentioned the liver abscesses in humans are pretty rare in our area. He sees one about once every several years.
Thanks for the interesting post.
Brandy
Dusty continues to do well. I've been tired. Martha one thing that helped me with all of his job stress was repeating some of the Al-Anon sayings to myself. The last 6 months I've been in Al-Anon due to two family members that are not in recovery. During Dusty's job stress and uncertainty I kept repeating to myself "Let go and let God." "One day, one hour, one minute at a time." These really helped me minimize stress about things out of my control.
Jean,
He is eating healthier. The colonoscopy technician gave me a 12 page diverticulitis handout while Dusty was in the hospital. The document does not reference eating unprocessed foods but there is one page with sketches of foods that are unprocessed. The sketch page was really helpful and I showed that to Dusty. His food regimen is a work in process but definitely better than pre hospitalization.
Tex,
Thanks for the very interesting and lengthy discussion on aflatoxin. I talked with his GI doc right after his colonoscopy. His GI doc said he could see inflammation during the colonoscopy but he could see no direct link to diverticulitis causing the liver abscess. His liver abscess cause is very speculative, unknown and kind of a default diagnosis. The aflatoxin hypothesis makes as much sense as anything. He grew up on an old school family farm in Ohio so ate unprocessed but moved to Mississippi in 1990 and has lived in the south since then. From age 18 on his grain servings per day probably averaged 11-12 (like mine pre MC.)
Dusty's ancestors are Swedish from North Dakota and we know Swedish folks are grain sensitive.
I started tearing up thinking about the cows with the liver abscesses. I feel bad for the cows. Dusty's experience was that he was really sick...10 day high fever and chills.....followed by extreme fatigue, no appetite and extreme weight loss, and 8 weeks of pain that moved around his chest until his diagnosis in the emergency room. Dusty's case had not advanced to coughing but on his last scan they saw something on his lungs so he gets another scan in a month as they are watching his lungs. Dusty's case had not progressed to the pneumonia level of the cows but he felt pretty darn bad.
I was reading on line that cows, goats and rabbits regularly get liver abscesses from aflatoxins.....why not humans?
I have a neighbor down the street who is the retired professor of cows (not sure what the job title is) at U.F. and before that L.S.U. The next time I see him I think I'll talk to him about aflatoxins and his thoughts on humans?
All of his Dusty's MD's were curious about the cause so I think I'll bring up the aflatoxin hypothesis on our future interactions with his MD's as he is not done with doctor visits. His vascular doc most recently asked us suspected cause and that was before your post. His vascular doc mentioned the liver abscesses in humans are pretty rare in our area. He sees one about once every several years.
Thanks for the interesting post.
Brandy
Brandy,
You're most welcome, of course. I hope that some of his doctors will be able to connect the dots and shed some light on this.
Tex
You're most welcome, of course. I hope that some of his doctors will be able to connect the dots and shed some light on this.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
