Friday, 01/17

     When I entered the room Friday morning, the very first thing I noticed was Caren's lovely hair.  Rick had brushed it and braided it.  Ain't he somethin'!
     Rick treated me to breakfast.  On the way downstairs, we met Jesse, who joined us.  Rick headed to work, and Jesse and I went up to see Caren. 
     The chest tube procedure was supposed to happen Friday morning.  There were too many emergencies at the hospital, and Caren's procedure kept getting bumped.  Understandable.  Friday she remained in bed to conserve her energy for the procedure. The IV site had been compromised, even though the arm had been placed on an IV board.
     All day waiting is taxing.  Jesse was hesitant to leave, because none of us wanted Caren to be alone.  I had to leave to pick up Austin at 11:15, then Nich and Benjamin at 3:20.  
     At 4-ish Jesse called and said it was time.  He put me on speaker, and I was able to speak to Caren before she left the room.  She was calm.
     While in Intervention Radiology (IR), her IV site was reestablished.  It seemed like we waited forever.
     Most chest tubes, only from what I know, are put in the side between the 2nd and 3rd intercostal spaces.  IR was unable to put in a drainage tube.  They had to move up to a medium size chest tube, stitching it in place.  AND, it was inserted into the back!  Now, I know the lungs can be accessed from the back, it just surprised me that they entered from that direction.  Dr. Z must have had concerns about all those broken ribs.
     After being in place, 800 cc, about 4/5 of one liter, of red fluid was drained.  It is no wonder her breathing was hampered!  
     For the first time since January 04, Caren took a full, deep breath.  Thank God, for Dr. Z and the Thoracic [something] Team for placing that tube!  Caren said that they were all good to her, even though the pain was over the top. On a scale of 1-10, 10 being the worse pain imaginable, Caren's was a 12-13.
     I called Rick with the good news.  The song he heard immediately was, She Talks to Angels, by Black Crowes:  "Yeah, she gives a smile when the pain come', The pain gonna make everything alright, Says she talks to angels, They call her out by her name, Oh yeah, she talks to angels."
     As he told me this, I smiled and said that the one I heard was: Overcomer, by Mandisa.  At this point I hadn't seen Mandisa's video of her song:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8VoUYtx0kw  My, oh my!  It is a must see!  
     God bless you, all you overcomers!   
     Yay, God! - for all Caren has overcome!  Amen!