Mission Complete

Yesterday I survived my ordeal. I must say I seemed okay distracting myself by coverage of the royal wedding on television. I loved her gown, which reminded me so much of the elegant one worn by Grace Kelly. Her sister's gown was equally lovely but I wonder why she would have worn white to the wedding. It would have been just as lovely in a soft peach color. But I digress.....I arrived at the hospital early as I had to have my coumadin level checked (I had to stop it on Monday which put me at risk for a blood clot.) The level had been done the day before at my doctor's office and they accepted that test so I was actually a bit early. The set up of this hospital was different. The "short stay" unit of any having a procedure which required an ultrasound or other radiological device, was located in the radiology department. So I was admitted into that unit and immediately the nurse warned me that my lung would probably collapse, at least in part. HUH? My doctor had mentioned this was a possibility but the nurse made it sound quite likely. That's when I became nervous. Rob was not permitted into that unit until my procedure was done and I was returned to that room. One nurse was at lunch and the remaining nurse was simultaneously discharging two patients while admitting me. Shortly after she began, the other nurse came back from lunch and things calmed down. The other nurse took my medical history and I liked her better. She was calming. I waited an hour to be taken in while they were "saving" a patient's central line. They apologized for the wait but I told them to take their time, that was certainly more important than my procedure.

They finally took me into the room and began to ultrsound my lung area. The doctor said he was going to make a mark at the right spot and when I was expecting to feel a pen I suddenly felt a needle and jumped. (I was in a sitting position, bent over a table and holding a pillow.) He told me I needed to calm down. I then explained that as long as he told me what to expect we would be fine. He then gave me the shot to numb me which went really deep. He then inserted the drainage tube and it took about twenty minutes I think for it to all come out. It looked like beer (which I do not drink.) The doctor is sending the fluid for pathology and other tests. He removed about a litre from the area surrounding the right lung and I could feel a weird sensation as the pressure was removed the lung was able to open up. It actually hurt at first to breath using a lung which had not been used in months. I also coughed a lot. They then xrayed to make sure it had not collapsed and the xray was good. I was relieved. At this point I am back on my blood thinners and am using an injectible medicine as well to quickly thin the blood. Now I am waiting to see the results of what was in the fluid, and hopefully they will be able to tell what caused it to be produced. While it can be caused by pneumonia, I made much more after the pneumonia had cleared up. I will be on oxygen for awhile but I am hoping that it won't be permanent. My back and lung area are a bit sore but I'm sure that is to be expected. I'm just relieved that it's over.