Drain Works

The blog has fallen behind a bit so here's a brief rundown of the last 4 days:

Thursday 12/4
Went to meet Dr. Haasler and his associates. They checked me out and we went through the events leading up to this surgery. They also summarized what to expect before, during and after the procedure. Dr. Haasler seems like a nice guy.

Friday 12/5
Arrived at the hospital at 10:15. Had another chest x-ray and EKG along with filling out all the required forms. (How many times do you have to tell them about your allergies, past surgeries, current medication etc. I'm all in favor of on-line medical histories.) The catheter was installed at about 2PM and it only took about 20 minutes. The doctor said all went well and he drained 1 liter leaving some behind for some hands-on learning. My night nurse, Cora, walked me through the procedure, which is pretty simple, and I drained another 1/2 liter.

Saturday 12/6
Most of the day was spent waiting for paperwork to be completed so we could go home. I did get another chest x-ray and I performed another drainage procedure under the watchful eye of Lois and 2 day nurses. The nurses did not have much experience with the procedure (I think they watched the video just before assisting me). It was like trying to work with Laurel and Hardy. I did manage to withdraw another liter. (The reason that the drainage quantities are multiples of 1/2 liter is because that's how much each bottle holds).

We didn't get out of the hospital until after 3PM. We stopped at Farm & Fleet on the way home to pick up a few items. Because they didn't have an available wheel chair I ended up walking through the store with my portable oxygen bottle. My breathing rate increased a little but it wasn't an S.O.B. episode. After we got back in the car I discovered that I didn't have the oxygen turned on. Wow, this was major progress. At that point I decided to go without oxygen for as long as I could. I didn't use any during the rest of the day or when I slept. In fact, Lois and I slept together, in our bedroom, for the first time in weeks.

Sunday 12/7
This morning, like an expert, Lois did the draining procedure and collected 1 liter. We did it again this evening and got .93 liters. We stopped when the flow was sputtering and I started feeling a pain in my shoulder. The pleural cavity was essentially empty. (4.4 liters in 3 days). From this point we can determine what the buildup is each day.

The hair is really falling out now - I should be bald in a few more days. Still haven't used any oxygen