Recently in Surgery and in-hospital recovery Category

You see a changed man, who not only has a new, now working stomach but a new face, devoid of the tubing that gave him the look of an elephant. As of today, he also had his precious epidural line removed. He can still get shots of morphine, mind you and he will but, the line that was threatening to get infected had to go. That means his level of pain has changed and Jonas has to adapt to feeling what was previously numbed, especially on his side where he had a thoracotomy (opening of the rib cage) that is stapled all the way from the front to the back.

Friends have started to come in and this is the best thing for Jonas. Alone, he is not very motivated in doing things like exercising and can be in a somber mood. As soon as I appear, we do some chest physio which involves clapping with cupped hands on his back. I have never been so happy to see large blobs of mucus noisily come out of someone ' s mouth. That is what clapping sessions are supposed to bring out and it works.

He is just so amazing. Yesterday, it looked like Jonas ' recovery would be slowed down for at least a few days when the left lung crumpled. During the couple of hours in surgery last night, a big plug of mucus was taken out and the lung returned to normal while the thorax was still being drained. The digestive tract is perfectly sewn up, no air leak. The doctor does not know where that air came from but, Jonas slept while in the recovery room and, in a complete turnaround, look at him today afternoon:

Jonas left lung collapsed yesterday afternoon. That is why he had trouble breathing yesterday morning. I am sorry I said to friends earlier it was a hum-dum day for Jonas. It was not, in the end. The medical team found out at around 5:30pm from a radio and immediately put a tube on his side to suck the fluids out.

Liquid did come out but Jonas still had trouble breathing and a fever. Dr. Ferri came over and decided, based on the radio, to insert a tube higher up near the collar bone to see if air would come out. I actually witnessed the operation while holding Jonas hand.

As soon as the tube was put inside, little bubbles of air started coming out on the other end which meant that air stuck inside the thorax pressured the lung to completely empty itself and shrivel. Letting out the sealed up air by the tube helped the breathing a little bit. The surgeon decided that we need to figure out where that air is coming from and ensure it is not from a leak in the redone stomach/oesophagus. That means Jonas is currently waiting to be brought to the operating room where the surgeon will do a complete check of the insides to resolve this situation.

I am going back to the hospital in the morning. It is a long night. I cannot wait to go back to Jonas bedside.

I will post again later today.

Rose

The nose tube cannot come off yet. It drains the stomach, filling with brown muck a container near his bed. The tube gives him a weak nasal voice that comes out in brief sentences interspersed with sighs. He seems to have retained his deep voice but I suppose we have to wait after he tubes come off. The surgery can sometimes induce palsy of the vocal chords but I know they had brought in a neck specialist to remove the lymph nodes there, a man with a light hand and a swift scalpel who would be careful not to damage the vocal chords.

The hardest part: standing up to walk. We were told day 2 and 3 after the day of the surgery are the most exhausting of all days. All the energy is taken up to heal and yet, starting to sit and then, walk, is important to make sure recovery will be happening normally. Here, Jonas holds on to a cart and walks outside his room and comes back while surrounded by two physiotherapists.

The thing that stays with me right now is his reassuring smile. Even as he was being wheeled to the operating room, he kept his good spirits and sought to bring the tension down a few notches. He smiled at me, said he was going to be ok and the elevator door closed on him.