Ma's xray showed that her pleural cavity was 2/3 full with fluid. She had even more trouble breathing in the morning and was given a full oxygen mask. That's the kind that covers both your nose and your mouth. She had been using just the nose piece kind prior to that. However, she also developed asthma due to the lung problem and was given respiration treatment twice in the morning.
The breathing problem made her really weak. Just moving around in bed made her out of breath. Forget standing. Lying flat on her back also made breathing difficult, so her bed had to be raised.
The lung doctor showed up rather late, after 4pm, for the thoracentesis. The first time she had this procedure done, she was sitting up and the fluid was tapped through her back. She only needed a local. This time it was through her side and she was lying down. Initially she was given just a local but eventually was given morphine. I don't know if this was before or after she yelled out in pain. The good news is the morphine didn't make her sick. I would have liked to watch the procedure, but they closed the curtain on me, darn it. A tube was inserted in her side. Initially, the fluid coming out was straw-colored, just like the last time. But it soon turned bloody. The problem with having a low platelet count is it makes you bleed. Over 2 liters of fluid came out. I don't know how much of it was due to her bleeding problem. The tube is still in Ma and will be removed today. She's breathing much better but is still on oxygen.
Ma's platelet count in the morning was only 24K. Normal is 150-250K. She was given 1-1/2 units of platelets, raising her count to 62K. But after the thoracentesis, her count dropped to 43K. When I left last night, she was supposed to receive a jumbo pack of platelets.
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