Maria's Liver Biopsy

Yesterday, Maria was a warrior like always.  She had her liver biopsy performed yesterday morning. The nurse came to get her and she went off to the procedure all by herself.  I read about liver biopsies and nothing about them seemed like a walk in the park. 

I sat in the waiting area and a nurse came to get me when the procedure was complete.  That was about 20 minutes.  Most of that time is spent preparing the patient.  Maria explained the procedure to me just like the doctor explained it to her.  I guess they start with numbing your stomach area then taking a foot long needle and numbing your actual liver.  That sounds awful.  They also give you an IV to help with identifying the liver via the ultrasound.  On the ultrasound, the doctor said her liver looked good. 

So once her stomach and liver where all numb they took the foot long needle and extracted a very microscopic piece of her liver.  This little piece was sent to the lab for further analysis.  They told us we should have the results maybe by Friday of this week but it could take up to a week. 

Maria was being observed for the next 3 hours.  She handled it very well.  In fact, I know she did a lot better than I would have.  So now we sit and wait for hopefully Friday to hear what the lab was able to find. Again, I am hoping Maria fits into the category where she just has slightly elevated liver enzymes.   Thanks again for keeping this family in your thoughts over these next few days.  I will give an update as soon as we hear from the doctor!