Peritonitis (day 3)

Ethan had a long night. He didn't tolerate his feeds and was cramping a lot. This didn't effect radiotherapy and it continued as planned. After this we went to Monash for an abdo xray and bloods and to have more vincristine. He had the abdo xray straight away. He was then assessed by the oncologist who decided to admit him. (At this stage he had a temp of 38.7, respiratory rate of 60, heart rate of 170 and oxygen sats of 67%!) An abdo ultrasound, another xray, blood tests and a wee test were all ordered. The tests indicate that he has a lot of fluid around his abdomen, ascites. This fluid is most likely infected and caused by peritonitis (inflammation of the abdominal lining) therefore antibiotics have been commenced. If the fevers and abdo pain persist, they may need to drain it. The ileus is improving and his bowel is slowly starting to work. He is very constipated and they are hoping some laxatives can get things moving. The surgical team will review him again first thing tomorrow morning before we go to Peter Mac for more radiation. Hopefully we can avoid any operations.