From:
"April Armstrong Campbell"
Date: 2003-11-13 04:01:11 UTC
Subject: Vena cava stenting
To: <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
Message-ID: <005b01c3a99a$d2a7dce0$952fb844@bigbox>
"If memory serves I think it was Dr. Karen Purcell or Dr. Ruth Heller who m=
entioned using a trick of holding the Vena Cava closed and watching to see =
if there was effective collaterol circulation before considerating ligation=
in a past post, but I could be misrecalling who said it. I don't have the=
time right now to do a search in the Complete FHL Archives at http://fhl.s=
onic-weasel.org. I know there is also some discussion of surgical alternat=
ives"
Interesting.... The procedure I'm talking about is actually a surgical pro=
cedure that puts an actual stent/device on the vena cava that gets closed b=
ack up into the body and left there for a few weeks (and can be removed imm=
ediately surgically at the first sign of trouble) to gradually close off th=
e cava and allow the blood to redirect itself over time (which it may alrea=
dy be doing due to the slow growth of the tumor), versus just holding it do=
wn at the time or tumor removal. This is relatively new, and we may try it=
with Bandit, since his tumor is so bad and Shannon didn't make it.
-April