Down To One Chest Tube

Ma is still in the hospital. One chest tube had stopped draining, but the other one is still draining fluid. The doctor stopped by and removed the first chest tube. She turned off suction on the other one to see if it will stop draining. If it does, it can be removed today. The nurse removed Ma's catheter in the afternoon. She's now down to just one tube coming out of her. That should make walking easier.

The surgeon gave Ma a shot of morphine before removing the tube. I was afraid morphine would give her nausea, but it didn't. Maybe because it was only 1 mg. She also had Darvocet in the morning, and that didn't make her sick either. With Fentanyl, that makes three drugs that don't make her throw up.

Dorothy & Kuya George are back. They stopped by along with Anjelica. I don't know what it was I wanted Dorothy to help us with. I can't really complain much about the standard of care. The only thing that bugs me is the different protocols that each nurse follows when using the Port-a-Cath. I have to ask them each time if they used Heparin when disconnecting her IV. But I'm glad Dorothy's back.

Anyway, Dorothy, Kuya George & Angelica brought a big pot of hydrangeas. Dorothy also brought parking passes and lunch passes. The cafeteria prices are actually reasonable, but parking is $18/day. We've been buying 3-day passes for $20. At Doctors, parking was free. Dorothy stayed with Ma while the rest of us had lunch. She said she'll be back to work on Wednesday.

It's amazing how many people Pa knows at the hospital. He knows Ma's surgeon, Dr. Khan, because he used to work at Doctors. He knows the dietitian because she works at both hospitals. Someone at the lab stopped by. She also works at both hospitals and had seen Ma at both ICUs. Her mother is a patient of Pa. Ma's swing shift nurse yesterday also knows both Ma & Pa. She's a neighbor in Hercules, and her in-laws are also patients of Pa.