Bronchoscopy Wednesday

On Monday afternoon, after reviewing Cheryl's x-rays and CT scan and listening to her breathing, Dr. Wumi determined that she has fluid infiltration of the alveoli. He heard some crackling in her inhalation and noted that her lungs are not filling completely with air. In English, that's fluid buildup around the air sacs in the lung. This can be caused by a reaction to the chemotherapy or by an opportunistic infection. If this is a reaction to the chemo, she can be given steroids to reduce the inflammation but if it is an infection, steroids are contraindicated and she would need to be given targeted antibiotics.

Dr. Wumi had planned to do a bronchoscopy with several biopsies but after consultation with Dr. Horesh, Cheryl's vascular doctor, they have decided to pass on performing the biopsies since this would require Cheryl to be off her Lovenox (blood thinner) for half a day and would require placement of another venous filter before proceeding.

Instead, Dr. Wumi will do the bronchoscopy coupled with a wash of her lung to get samples for culture to determine the cause of the inflammation.

The procedure will involve twilight sedation and should take about half an hour. If all goes well, we should have Cheryl home by mid-afternoon. She will be a bit loopy for several hours but should have no ill-effects from the scope.