It's quite a large volume of fluid. To put it in perspective, that's four of those big 2 liter bottles of soda. Not that I drink much soda but the amount is significant.

And that's precisely the quantity of liquid they drained out of my stomach last Wednesday. I know...I can't believe it either. I watched as a catheter, that was inserted into my right side, sucked out fluid for over 45 minutes. What a feeling. My belly got smaller and I felt my insides relax. I could take a full breath once again and my internal organs were pretty happy too.

Apparently it was caused by a portal thrombosis (a clot in the vein between the liver and the intestines). I'm hopeful that this is the last chapter in this odyssey I'm going through.

Onward and upward!!!