Wednesday, March 25th - Update

Hi! Talked to the ICU RN this morning. Guess 4 am is the best time to call! Mom is stable and was sleeping. Her oxygen looked good and her blood sugar was stable. Blood pressure was still low. 

Yesterday’s lung wash went well. They removed 400 cc of fluid from the right plural space and put another chest tube in (she has two now). They started to close her up and her oxygen levels began to drop. They ended the surgery to take her off the sedation and did a bronchoscopy once back in her room. They found a decent amount of secretions in her lungs which was probably why her oxygen levels dropped during surgery. Possible reasons for secretion in lungs are infection, inflammation and lack of mobility. They think because she hasn’t been moving much, along with the longer sedation during surgery equaled the build up. Once they suctioned her, her oxygen went back up. 

X-ray showed improvement and the bleeding has stopped. They will keep her on the ventilator settings today and tomorrow and then again move back to the pressure support settings. 

 Her blood pressure is their biggest concern right now and she is on two medications to raise it. They also started another unit of blood to help with volume to see if that helps her. 

Today will be rest day & healing time! We got to FaceTime a lot after surgery and again before bedtime so that was really nice!