Update from Bill

As I mentioned previously, Mom's brother Bill and his wife Kathryn made the trip up to the valley yesterday. They'll be spending more time with Mom today before heading back down, and Bill said that he may try to make it back up to the valley this weekend.

He was able to get a wealth of information from the surgeon that placed the chest tube and the nurses on duty. The surgeon actually came to remove the chest tube from her right side. He said that the Pleurodesis seemed to do its job, and the amount of fluid being drained was minimal. He explained to Bill that there were two "pockets" of fluid that had collected, and they were evidently not connected which is why the chest tube had to be moved initially. (Still seems a little funny to me, but you can only know so much without performing some kind of invasive surgery........)

There is still some talk of putting the chest tube on the right side, but the amount of fluid there isn't at a dangerous level, so he's going to let her go without for a few days and re-evaluate the situation then.

The nurses communicated to Bill that Mom had been using morphine less and less frequently. She didn't need it at all yesterday, opting for a more moderate pain reliever. (Still more than the Excedrin in my desk drawer, but not like morphine.)

Bill said that she seemed very lucid and was able to have a substantial conversation. He said that there were quite the antics going on in the next bed, but Mom seemed to sleep through it anyway. I guess they had an overabundance of visitors, and even had a birthday party for a five year old girl in there! (Hello? These rooms are about 12' x 20' with two hospital beds and all the equipment around them.) Bill said that he avoided the confrontation and bit his tongue because it didn't seem to phase Mom.

There's evidently been some talk of moving Mom to the physical therapy center behind the hospital, but that wouldn't happen until they get the whole chest tube situation under control. The surgeon confirmed for Bill that they're not just going to kick Mom to the curb at some point if she's unable to care for herself at home, and if there's not some type of medical assistance available. I guess we'll find out more in the coming days, but for now, she still requires a substantial amount of care, and isn't going anywhere.