Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Step one - the lungs

Tuesday, August 4

Last night went a lot better, I think because I asked the nurse to tilt her bed so she could have her head elevated without being bent in the middle. She slept most of the night without very many calls to her personal nurse to fix things.

Today they did a thoracentesis on her, and drew 500 ml of fluid from her lungs. They wouldn’t let me stay in the room, but I saw the needle they used to suck it out. Ouch! She says it didn’t hurt, so I hope that holds true when the local wears off. Anyway, now she can breathe better and isn’t coughing. She says the pressure is off her lungs.

The doc said that the fluid was clear, that they would send it to the lab but he cleared her for the next procedure. On to the TEE or tracheal echo electrocardiogram. Dr Stavens said it would be this afternoon. Thank goodness she feels better, because she isn’t yelling at me for her not being able to eat. Nothing to eat or drink after midnight takes on a whole new meaning when they don’t do stuff until the afternoon!

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