Genetic Defects, pt. 5 - Chest Tubes and Ventilators (440 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.11 on 11 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by SmalltownSally (View user info) at 2009-03-27 04:23:57 EDT
http://www.ubersite.com/m/121537 Decisions
A week went by, uneventfully. There were minor issues, such as having to move one of the chest tubes because it had some kind of blockage, but that was a problem easily remedied and highly successful. Emma was no longer drowning in her lungs, and the chest tubes were doing exactly what they were intended to do. I saw Dr. Fox 4 or 5 times a day, coming by to check on my daughter, and I could manage to smile each time. He saved her life. The least I could do was smile.
The fluid draining from Emma's chest was yellow and looked like urine. Then one morning, it was milky and straw-colored. I panicked at first, but was told that she was suffering from a minor condition called kylothorax, which results from a nick to the lymphatic system during chest tube placement. They put her on a special formula to combat it.
Slowly, she began to shrink... to get back to her dry weight. At her worst, her tissue was so spongy that if I laid my palm gently on her back, my handprint would stay pressed into her skin for half an hour. 10 days from the placement of the chest tubes, the left tube stopped draining and they were able to remove it. She was able to have careful baths. Her weekday night nurse, Nicole, let me hold her up while they changed her sheets one night; the first time I'd felt her weight in my arms since she was 3 days old.
The nurses on the NICU floor had been fussing at me about taking care of myself. I was losing weight, growing pale, developing frown lines and circles under my eyes that never went away. I was driving an hour and a half every morning from my parent's house to the hospital, keeping my vigil at Emma's bedside until I yawned more than I breathed, and then driving back home. Not a safe situation. Thuy and Kirby pressured me to take some time for myself. Emma seemed stable, so I tentatively did.
The first day that I came in later than normal, I was having coffee with my old friend Shawn when my cell phone rang. It was the NICU. My heart thudded in my chest. I had a moment of panic... I just knew something horrible had happened.
"We're taking her off the ventilator at 10:30!" It was 10:15. "Are you nearby? Do you want us to wait?"
No, I didn't. What if they weren't successful and had to put her right back on? I couldn't handle that. I told them I'd be there shortly, but not to wait for me. I was only about half an hour away from the hospital.
You couldn't wipe the smile off my face. I finished my coffee quickly, hugged Shawn goodbye, and sped to the hospital. It felt so good to have a reason to be happy... something to look forward to, but in the back of my mind was a shadow. So far, nothing had gone according to plan. I had no reason to believe that this would be any different from any other time, but I needed to. If I gave up, then she might, and she'd been SO tough. I could stay tough. I could try and ignore those shadows.
The nurses didn't even wait for me to call up to be buzzed in. Lois, the head nurse, was waiting for me at the NICU door, grinning broadly. She walked me to pod 15 and left me at the door. The lights were out, the warmer was off. Emma lay on her left side, facing the window under one of the pink princess blankets. I leaned forward and laid my head alongside hers, looking into her big brown eyes. My grandmother's eyes. I took a picture with my cell phone and sent it to everyone in my family. I stroked her cheek over and over again, so happy to see her without the disfiguring tape, with eyes that were no longer bruised and swollen shut.
We weren't out of the woods yet, but we'd come so far. It was November 2nd.
User Reviews
Submitted by RoadSong (user info) at 2009-03-27 13:52:18 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
She does look better in this photo, glad to hear you finally got to hold her...
Submitted by SmalltownSally (user info) at 2009-03-27 12:50:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
No, scourge. I wish it was nearing the end, but not really... truth is, if I'd pushed on to the next phase, this section would have been WAY too long. Your eyes would have bled.
Submitted by TLawrence (user info) at 2009-03-27 12:04:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
More boring shit that I'm never going to read, ever.
Submitted by scourge (user info) at 2009-03-27 11:14:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
now you're just dragging your feet on wrapping this up, aren't you?
Submitted by TheStitch (user info) at 2009-03-27 10:04:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Man I sure hope this has a happy ending. It will, right? Right?
Right?
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2009-03-27 09:14:24 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by sicosemen (user info) at 2009-03-27 08:35:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Yup, don't care any more.
Submitted by sicosemen (user info) at 2009-03-27 08:29:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Didn't read it but for fucks sake, I don't think anyone cares any more. Wrap it up already.
I'm going to read now.
Submitted by monkeyswithguns (user info) at 2009-03-27 08:19:05 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by kaos-king (user info) at 2009-03-27 05:51:26 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by EmissionImpossible (user info) at 2009-03-27 04:49:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
i cant be reading this kind of thing in the morning