Surgery for Chest Tube Removal

Dr. Khan decided to play it safe and wants to remove Ma's chest tube in the operating room instead of in his office. Ma has pre-op lab work scheduled for Monday. Surgery is on Tuesday at 10am. She has to be there by 8am (and so do I!). It's supposed to take only an hour. She was given a local anesthetic when the tube was put in, so presumably she'll only need a local when it's pulled out.

Chest Tube Still There

We saw Dr. Khan today about having Ma's chest tube removed. Unfortunately, he wanted Pa to try to drain her lung one more time before removing the tube. He sent us home, and we'll return in a week. Pa drained Ma's lung this afternoon, and no fluid came out, so it looks like next Wednesday will be the day the tube comes out.

In the meantime, Pa also spoke to Dr. Khan about needing a bypass. Either Dr. Khan or his partner Dr. Stanten (both of whom had operated on Ma) will do the surgery, if needed. Anyway, Dr. Khan feels that 95% blockage on a main artery is too high. He wants to see Pa after his next stress test. The stress test is on 4/3, and Pa's appointment with Dr. Khan is on 4/15.

Follow-ups Appointments for Ma & Pa

Two appointments today. First, Ma. Dr. Irwin is amazed at how good she looks and how well she handled radiation. He will see her again in a month. The PET scan and blood test for tumor markers will be done at that time.

Pa ordered a chest x-ray for Ma yesterday. Her lung is pretty much clear. There is a pocket of fluid in the lung, but it's trapped in an area that's inaccessible to the catheter. Ma has an appointment with Dr. Khan in two weeks to see about removing the catheter.

Second, Pa. The blockage is 95% on the right coronary artery, 80% LAD and 80% circumflex artery. Despite that, Dr. Weiland recommends waiting. He said even though the blockage sounds bad, he doesn't think Pa automatically needs a bypass because he's pretty much asymptomatic. I asked him what waiting means -- wait till when? He said till he gets a heart attack or chest pains. I did mention Pa's family history of sudden death, but Dr. Weiland didn't seem too concerned. If Pa has surgery, it'll take him 2-3 months to recover. So the plan is to have another stress test in two months.

Pleural Effusion Drying Up

Ma's pleural effusion is finally drying up. The oncologists had hoped that the radiation would have this effect on her lung, and it seems to have worked. When Ma first went home from the hospital back in July, her lung would produce 800-1000 ml of fluid every day. More recently, it was down to 300-500 ml per day. Last Wednesday, Pa drained only 30 ml out of her lung. That was two days' worth of accumulation. Last Saturday, he got only a few drops, probably not even a teaspoon. Pa said he will talk to the pulmonologist. Maybe they'll be able to remove Ma's catheter. I'm sure she'll feel a lot better without that tube sticking out of her lung.

Ma has a follow-up visit with her oncologist on Wednesday afternoon. Pa's appointment with his cardiologist is in the morning. We'll see what's in store for both of them.