Will doesn't seem to like snow. How else to explain the downturn he took overnight and into this morning? While the inches are piling up outside, Will has decided to have some breathing troubles again. They finally tapped the area around his lung this morning, after a 73-hour gap. They took out 35cc, which is about what they've gotten before, but it obviously took a lot longer to accumulate this time.
He has been having some trouble working off his CO2 and had been needing more oxygen. They've found that in addition to the fluid around his left lung, his right lung had a collapsed area this morning. That's not uncommon, and is likely due to another small bit of mucus blocking off a part that previously had been working well. As that works itself free, that area should inflate more fully again. Meanwhile, they tapped the left side earlier than they would have needed (a good sign) so that his left side can now compensate a bit for the right. He's doing better now as a result. We hope that whatever is in that right lung comes out without a fight, not wanting a repeat of the early-morning phone call incident.
Meanwhile, he continues to put on fluid everywhere, topping 1700 grams today. They've upgraded it from a "cosmetic issue" to one that needs to be dealt with. It's not dangerous; but all of that fluid isn't helping his efforts to breathe. They're backing off on his fluids by not replacing what seeps out of the spot where they tapped him as they have in the past, and will give him a diuretic again to help him get rid of it.
Through it all, he seems comfortable. Morphine and Ativan have a tendency to do that to a fella, of course, but really he's just so tough that this just doesn't seem to faze him much. We're hoping he continues to improve throughout the day to get back to where he has been recently. No reason why he shouldn't.
He has been having some trouble working off his CO2 and had been needing more oxygen. They've found that in addition to the fluid around his left lung, his right lung had a collapsed area this morning. That's not uncommon, and is likely due to another small bit of mucus blocking off a part that previously had been working well. As that works itself free, that area should inflate more fully again. Meanwhile, they tapped the left side earlier than they would have needed (a good sign) so that his left side can now compensate a bit for the right. He's doing better now as a result. We hope that whatever is in that right lung comes out without a fight, not wanting a repeat of the early-morning phone call incident.
Meanwhile, he continues to put on fluid everywhere, topping 1700 grams today. They've upgraded it from a "cosmetic issue" to one that needs to be dealt with. It's not dangerous; but all of that fluid isn't helping his efforts to breathe. They're backing off on his fluids by not replacing what seeps out of the spot where they tapped him as they have in the past, and will give him a diuretic again to help him get rid of it.
Through it all, he seems comfortable. Morphine and Ativan have a tendency to do that to a fella, of course, but really he's just so tough that this just doesn't seem to faze him much. We're hoping he continues to improve throughout the day to get back to where he has been recently. No reason why he shouldn't.
posted by John Kenyon at 11:50 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home