Friends-
Beth again. James battles on. He's been in ICU at Swedish for a week now. He continues to accumulate fluid around his heart, both lungs and in his abdomen, and problems with his liver, gall bladder, pancreas and now kidneys continue. This fluid accumulation is something James has had to deal with from the beginning (originally only around the heart). Cancer is basically a disease of inflamation and inflamation has a tendency to push the water out of the blood and into a vulnerable area (think injured swollen knees or blisters). The docs are draining the fluid and keeping James comfortable, but essentially these measures are just sort of band aids and don't address why the accumulation is still happening. As soon as one thing is addressed and working well another issue pops up. So please keep us in your thoughts and prayers, we need it more than ever now.