Paracentesis, CT's, and MRI's... oh my!

 Today has been busy with no definitive news. I had the paracentesis and they removed about 2 liters of fluid that I feel like has already built back up. They are getting it tested for infections, etc.

We spoke with the liver doctors and they want to do a liver biopsy tomorrow. They need to know how long the liver damage has been going on and how extensive the damage to the liver is. The CT and MRI suggest about 1/4 of my liver had damage or scarring. It appears that it is more than just a recent inflammation though and potentially has been going on for a while. Autoimmune disorders are more likely to develop during pregnancy. It could have started with any of my 3 pregnancies (4) and I am just now showing the levels of damage that I am.

I may also have a blood infection. A blood culture showed positive growth of bacteria in my blood but it may also be a contaminant of the blood culture which would show a false positive and not a true bloodstream infection. They took more blood today for a new culture to double-check that.

So we are waiting for
the results from the second blood culture. Also, I am scheduled to get the liver biopsy tomorrow to show truly how much scarring and for how long it has been happening. The biopsy will also help to determine if it is autoimmune hepatitis.

I had them remove my 2 original IV sites because they were so sore and getting green. I hope they aren't the source of the infection but they are still very sore.

We did walk around and try to get some of my swelling down. Please keep praying for answers. It's beginning to sound like even if we get an answer the solution is going to be a lifelong complication with meds and potential relapse or more issues.
@ University of Utah Health