Sunday, 14 December 2008

Hubby still in Hospital

Two weeks have passed, and a few things have happened, unfortunately nothing that was really planned.

Last Tuesday a large tube was put in his left lung to drain the fluid. Nearly six litres was removed and this was very painful. The lung doc was pleased with the x-rays, that showed hubbies lung was working hard to expand. My hubby was distressed with the pain, and I've got to be honest, seeing him in pain is something I deal badly with.

Hubby was also coughing a lot and bringing up phlem, which we were told was good. Then he coughed and said it felt like something had 'clicked' in his neck. His face had started to swell and by the time I got a nurse (within a minutes) his neck area was very swollen. This caused a panic and three doctors were called in. Our oncology doc said the tube had to come out, as she was concerned something bad was happening. She quickly removed the tube and then stayed and talked us through many options ... scary stuff. She was worried that my hubby's neck would continue to swell and that his breathing was compromised. She asked us about resuscitation and recommended we mark my hubby's file 'not for resuscitation' ... we had discussed this, but listening to a doctor talking like this was something neither of us coped well with ... and the tears fell. She asked if I wanted to stay the night in my hubby's room, which was nice, as I'd already decided I wasn't going anywhere.

I slept on the reclining chair ... it was comfy and I did get some sleep ... well a little sleep. My poor hubby barely closed his eyes, as he feared they'd not open again. Every time he started to doze, he'd 'jump' as his subconscious woke him agin.

The morning came and his breathing was still good ... a huge relief.

More x-rays and then more problems. It was found he had a pneumothorax, which is when a hole develops in the lung, allowing air to escape into the space between the lung and the chest wall and collapsing the lung. This had to be corrected by another tube being put into the same area to remove the air. Doctors rushed in and after three attempts the tube was in the right place. My poor hubby was exhausted, tearful and in loads of pain. He was so over this whole hospital thing, I was worried he'd discharge himself. The nurses gave him more and more morphine to help him relax and to help his pain. He was given patches and needles.

Over the past three days, his pain levels have decreased a little, and he's trying hard to keep on top of the pain, by asking for morphine rather than waiting till he's already in pain. He's still not sleeping well ... and he's rarely eating ... both worry me heaps.

Now we wait for the hole in his lung to heal. His lung doc is confident this will happen quickly and still wants to do the 'talc' in the pleural space thing, to get this area to scare and therefore prevent fluid buildup. My hubby will allow this, as long as the tube he currently has in, can do the job. Due to the pain caused by these tubes, he's not prepared to have another one ... and I don't blame him!

2 comments:

laura said...

This sounds so awful. I'm so sorry you're both going through all this. I hope hubby's lung heals up quickly so he can get out of there and come back home.

Anonymous said...

We are think of you both!!!

Send love from cross the ditch!!

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails