Simone Update 10/4

We're starting to feel like a yo-yo, continually being yanked up and then thrown back down. We took Simone back in yesterday because she's still not eating and her abdomen has become enlarged over the weekend. The doctor did an ultrasound and discovered new blood clots in her spleen and liver and quite a bit of fluid in her abdomen. They took a sample of the fluid and found it to be clear. The doctor thinks that there is maybe a clot higher up, closer to her heart, that is causing hypertension, which is forcing the watery part of her blood to be pushed out of her arteries and into her abdominal cavity. That's one theory, and there are others too numerous to list. She has suggested we do an echocardiogram to see if there is indeed a clot higher up, but that won't change the treatment (she's already on heparin, a blood thinner). She also suggested doing a surgical liver, stomach, and small intestine biopsy, but we have decided not to put Simone through that. That test also wouldn't really change how she is being treated as she's already on antibiotics and a number of liver support drugs. They did give us another injectable medication to give her three times a day to hopefully stimulate her appetite; it worked last night, but this morning she seems to have a fever and won't touch anything resembling food. We're hoping that maybe once the antibiotic kicks in and she starts feeling better that she'll want to partake of the smorgasbord downstairs (2 different kinds of dog food, a bowl of tuna, and a bowl of eggs). Time will tell. We're afraid that despite having made it through a really scary time last month, we may be headed back to the "dark place" once again.