DAY - 102

Well the CT Scan mentioned in the DAY-98 update also showed a pneumonia-looking spot on Jan's right lung, so she was re-admitted to the hospital on Thursday. The medical staff use the term "pneumonia" to classify any type of lung infection. The CT Scan doesn't really identify if it's bacterial, viral, or fungal. The only definitive way to identify the culprit is to collect some cells. Thus, Jan was admitted in order to perform a bronchoscopy with lavage. The procedure involves a fiber optic tube which is inserted into the lung. The affected area is flushed and collected. The collected cells are then examined microscopically and grown in a culture. They did that yesterday morning, and Jan was released from the hospital in the afternoon. A microscopic examination of the cells collected, together with cultures which will be run, should isolated exactly what type of organism we may be dealing with. It may be fungal, and if so, the week-long treatment that she has been receiving should take care of the problem. However, it appears that fungal infections can be tricky to eliminate quickly, and it may take some time. Simple blood tests can't really determine the type of fungus causing the problem. The best any routine labs can do is to identify a by-product of fungal growth called Galactomanan. A positive result only tells you that a fungus is at work, but it doesn't really tell you which specific organism, or where it may be growing. That was the reason for the chest and sinus CT Scans last week. Normally, these organisms grow in the lungs or sinus cavities. We should have a more definitive idea of where we are on Monday when we meet with the Primary Physician. Other than that, as I have mentioned before, Jan continues to get a little stronger each day. We should be headed home to Valrico soon.