Surgery Scheduled for Tuesday 01/19

The results from the liver biopsy confirmed that bilirubin is stuck in his liver and not able to escape. Also, there is some scarring in the liver but the doctor doesn't know the extent of it. We met with the surgeon (Dr. Lemon) today and have surgery scheduled for Tuesday 01/19 and Caeden will be the first surgery of the day.

The surgeon explained the surgery to us and the different possiblities of what he might find. The Surgeon will make an incision just below the ribcage and insert a catheter into the gallbladder if the gallbladder exists. It is possible that the gallbladder has been damaged by scar tissue which makes the gallbladder shrink and dissappear. However, if the gallbladder exists he will inject a dye that he hopes will flow from the gallbladder to the liver and down to the intestine. If the dye flows like it should then the surgeon will not proceed any further because Caeden's condition can be treated by medicine. This is known to be called Biliary Hypoplasia.

If the dye does not flow from the gallbladder to the liver and through the bile duct to the small intestine then there is a blockage of the bile ducts. This means that Caeden has what is called Biliary Artresia. If this is the case then the surgeon will take the small intestine and connect it to the liver. This would extend the surgery to a 4-5 hour surgery. During the surgery the surgeon would also insert a catheter into the neck vein which would have a connection point in the chest to administer medicine that he will have to take for six weeks after the surgery. Caeden would have to stay in the hospital for 7-10 days to recover. The full recovery would be about 2 months. Also, if Biliary Artresia is the prognosis then this procedure would only work for an extended period of time. He will eventually need a liver transplant.

We will keep everyone updated as soon as we know more information.