The lung doctor did the pleurodesis at 11:30. He used some kind of talc. The nurse gave Ma Dilaudid (supposedly stronger than morphine) as the procedure began. Pa says it takes about 5 minutes for Dilaudid to take effect. Well, they didn't wait 5 minutes. The procedure hurt Ma. She was crying out in pain. The doctor said the Dilaudid will not take away all the pain, and she'll be in pain for 4-6 hours. The nurse gave her two Vicodin. I doubt that they helped much, but they made her sleep. She woke up several times though, and she threw up once. When she woke up about two hours later, she was in agony. She rated the pain as 10 out of 10. It seemed to take forever for the nurse to come back with the painkiller. She gave Ma another shot of Dilaudid. Ma finally fell asleep again after 10 minutes. It look longer for me to calm down. The pain is apparently a good sign because it means the linings in the pleural space are adhering together and will thereby prevent further effusions.
Ma's oncologist stopped by around 6pm. The blood counts look better. He wants Ma on antibiotics for a few days while her white cell count is still low. The cytology for the pleural fluid shows it's negative for cancer. As the pathologist had told Pa before, the fluid is transudative, not exudative. Don't you love all these medical terms?
Ma woke up round 7:30pm after about 6 hours of sleep. She didn't have any lunch and was starving. But she had some nausea from the painkillers and was given Zofran. I fed her ice chips. Then she took a sip of apple juice. And fell asleep again. She vomited a few times. When I left at 9pm, Pa was trying to feed her gelatin and hoping she won't throw up again.
The chest tube is still in Ma, and it's still draining. It will be removed tomorrow, then maybe Ma can go home.
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