“Lunger”

Doc Holliday: (coughs) Now Ed, are we cross? 

Ed Bailey: Without them guns, you’re nothing but a skinny lunger…

Dad may not be a true “lunger” in the Doc Holiday tuberculosis sense, but he is officially among the ranks with fewer lobes than most. Today’s surgery was successful and Dad is resting easy with stable vitals.

During the surgery, it was noted that the infection had spread further than anticipated and the complete removal of the middle lobe of the right lung was deemed necessary in addition to the upper lobe as planned. The lower right lobe had collapsed from the dead weight above it, but was able to be successfully reinflated and is functioning properly now. Other than some knicked arteries, there were no other complications. Blood products were given, a chest tube placed, and the bleeding is now resolved. The doctors elected to maintain sedation and intubation for now, so Dad has not yet woken from surgery. They will maintain this through the night and most of Sunday to allow for initial recovery. During this time Dad will remain in the ICU with fantastic and dedicated resources and nurses.

Tomorrow we will get to ask some follow up questions of the surgeon and hear how the doctors feel Dad is progressing post operation. If all appears to be going well, the plan for tomorrow afternoon is to attempt extubation (removal of the ET tube that is being used to help him breathe).  Based on the settings of the ventilator that hooks up to the ET tube and provides mechanical ventillation, it shows that Dad still has a good respiratory drive. The medication currently being given to keep Dad sedated (Precedex) is being used because is specifically sedates without affecting the patients inherent drive to breathe. Thank You to everyone for keeping Dad in your thoughts and prayers during this surgery; we are happy to be on the other side of this and ready to move on to the next step in healing.

There was mostly sitting and waiting today… I went so far as to sneak home to see my other half, play with the kiddos, and mostly catch some zzzz’s. Now, as I am sure you can all imagine, with so much “free time” sitting around at hospitals there tends to be a humorous comment or two that pop up… Today, Dads niece was wondering wether Uncle Kevy would only be able to breathe out of his left nostril…  So this got us thinking – is Dads left lung going to feel lonely, or start sleeping in the middle of the bed and enjoy the space? Anyhow, this went on and on and we enjoyed the lightheartedness amidst the gravity of reality. 

I will leave it at that for tonight and fill in all the other medical details tomorrow including where we now stand with fungal infections, positive yeast results, Amphotericin B, port contamination that may require another surgery, extubation, and some miscellaneous items…  It may be a long one 😉 

With hope and love,

Richard