I met with Dr. Connelly on Tuesday. This was a routine office visit, and she is mostly checking for signs of Donor vs Host Disease (none were found). However, during the last few days, I have experienced some swelling in my lymph nodes and more disturbingly, fluid in my lungs. This is not completely unexpected, because I have tapered off the steroids, and they had been helping to keep things in check. Still.
So before we met, she had me go in for a couple of chest X-rays to see how much fluid had built up. It was enough to be a concern, so she ordered some to be extracted. I was not looking forward to this, despite enjoying the ability to breath, as it involves sticking a needle into the lungs and draining off the accumulated fluid.
They were able to fit me in that day. When I got to the surgery area, the guy that runs the ultrasound and the doctor were both really nice (the nurse was really nice too). He explained that while it sounds horrible, it is not that bad of a procedure. First of all, the fluid apparently is not actually in the lung, but in the tissue around it, and the weight of the fluid is what prevents the lung from expanding. So they will not be poking a hole in my lung. The downside is that the fluid is not all in a continuous pocket. So, they will go in through my back and drain the largest cavity.
There was some confusion, because the orders were to just take a sample for testing. My understanding was that they were going to drain out most of the fluids so that I could breath better. The surgeon told me that therapeutic drainage was pretty different surgery. It was basically the same technique, but because they would have to go in multiple times, the risk was different (both of infection, and there was a greater chance of collapsing the lung) and the orders were pretty clear. I convinced them to at least drain the largest pocket (as opposed to just take a sample), which they did.
Since to hit the other pockets, they would have to put in more needles, there was no clear disadvantage to doing the written orders at that time, and then, if there had been an error in the orders going in to do the rest of the drainage. We also thought that it that draining the largest pocket might alleviate most of my shortness of breath. It helped, I was able to sleep last night laying down - instead of propped up- but my breathing is still pretty shallow.
It turns out, after talking with Dr. Connelly, that there was an error in the orders. That the intention had been to drain as much fluid as possible, so I will be going back in on Wednesday or Thursday. On the plus side (depending on how you count these things) that was easily the least painful surgery procedure that I have had done. There was a little stick from one of the numbing shots, but other than that, I did not feel a thing, and even now that the local shot has worn off, I don't feel any pain where they went through. So it is not wrenching to think that I have to go through it again.
So before we met, she had me go in for a couple of chest X-rays to see how much fluid had built up. It was enough to be a concern, so she ordered some to be extracted. I was not looking forward to this, despite enjoying the ability to breath, as it involves sticking a needle into the lungs and draining off the accumulated fluid.
They were able to fit me in that day. When I got to the surgery area, the guy that runs the ultrasound and the doctor were both really nice (the nurse was really nice too). He explained that while it sounds horrible, it is not that bad of a procedure. First of all, the fluid apparently is not actually in the lung, but in the tissue around it, and the weight of the fluid is what prevents the lung from expanding. So they will not be poking a hole in my lung. The downside is that the fluid is not all in a continuous pocket. So, they will go in through my back and drain the largest cavity.
There was some confusion, because the orders were to just take a sample for testing. My understanding was that they were going to drain out most of the fluids so that I could breath better. The surgeon told me that therapeutic drainage was pretty different surgery. It was basically the same technique, but because they would have to go in multiple times, the risk was different (both of infection, and there was a greater chance of collapsing the lung) and the orders were pretty clear. I convinced them to at least drain the largest pocket (as opposed to just take a sample), which they did.
Since to hit the other pockets, they would have to put in more needles, there was no clear disadvantage to doing the written orders at that time, and then, if there had been an error in the orders going in to do the rest of the drainage. We also thought that it that draining the largest pocket might alleviate most of my shortness of breath. It helped, I was able to sleep last night laying down - instead of propped up- but my breathing is still pretty shallow.
It turns out, after talking with Dr. Connelly, that there was an error in the orders. That the intention had been to drain as much fluid as possible, so I will be going back in on Wednesday or Thursday. On the plus side (depending on how you count these things) that was easily the least painful surgery procedure that I have had done. There was a little stick from one of the numbing shots, but other than that, I did not feel a thing, and even now that the local shot has worn off, I don't feel any pain where they went through. So it is not wrenching to think that I have to go through it again.
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