The suspected pneumothorax is ruled out based on the first chest xray. The drain with the hole in the tubing was the right... and thankfully the right hasn't put out much fluid over the last few days, and the first xray from today didn't show any fluid buildup in the right pleural cavity, so the only way to resolve the tubing problem was to pull it out. And that's just what the CV Surgery nurse did.
Now -- the other kicker is -- we did find a tiny hole in the left tubing. Definity not as big as what was in the right tubing, but it's a hole nonetheless. She put a peice of Tagaderm (clear sticky dressing tape) around that section of the tubing to hopefully keep air from getting in or out, in hopes that this left drain can stay in a few more weeks/months to keep removing fluid. Remember the left side is the side we have always, repeatedly, had the pleural effusions. So we NEED this drain for sure!
After the right drain was pulled, we went back to Radiology to have an second xray, making sure the right side looked as it should... which, thankfully, it did.
Now -- as far as the fever goes -- his bloodwork came back great. Better than it has ever looked post-operation! The only thing low today was his sodium, but again, it's still closer to normal than to critical. I'll take that. The White Blood Count showed in perfect normal range, so the CV Surgery nurse explained that he's not fighting an infection of any kind anywhere in his body. Thank God! So what caused the random 102 degree fever? We're not sure. She said he could be starting to fight a virus, and if so, we'll just have to let it run it's course. But the big thing is, his labs show it wasn't caused by an infection. So I wait; wait to see if the fever returns today/this evening/tomorrow/etc... . And to start praying that the tiny hole in the left drain doesn't get bigger, causing the need to have his only drain left be pulled sooner than it should be pulled.
Please pray with me for Tyler to start drying up on that left side and that no fluid starts to accumulate on the right side now that that drain it out.
I'll hear back this afternoon/evening if we need to come back for a visit on Thursday or if we'll resume our regularly scheduled Tuesday visits next week. (Today's visit trumped tomorrow's visit, and we get tomorrow off.)
Love, Kathleen