Long Day's Journey...

Tough day.

Yep.  Tough day.

Jim put up with an awful lot of stuff and though he is somewhat "out to lunch" he does have a vague idea that the next few days will be uncomfortable.  The drain and pump arrangement is in place, working and all that went fine.  We are on the outside looking in. I can't really say what Jim's take is on this business, but I suspect that if he doesn't remember any of it, that'll be just as well.

There isn't much fluid in the pleural space.  Dr. Park, who did the surgery, explained that only reason Jim got the drain and pump gizmo was because the infection is fungal.  Fungal infections are special.  Men with zippo white blood cells who have fungal infections can get in big trouble fast.  The drain-pump will force the rotten fluids out. Force is needed but it sure is unpleasant.

I was allowed to watch the surgery.  I like to watch and am happiest when they let me do so rather than shunting me off to a waiting room.  The surgery was done while Jim was laying on his side on the sliding table of the MRI scanner.  An odd place to do surgery, but it is painful to move Jim and they needed the scanner before and after the surgery, so it made sense.

Now that I see the device in operation, it is a little different from what I described in yesterday's post. From start to stop, here is what we have.  There is an air line feeding from the wall to a combination pump and collection box.  The air flowing through the line creates negative pressure in the box. This makes the box act as a suction pump.  There is another line exiting the box.  This line is a hose which in turn is attached to the smaller catheter that was surgically placed in Jim's pleural space.  Through the catheter and then the hose the fluid is drawn from Jim back into the box where it collects.  The entire system is closed.  When the collection box is filled, it is completely replaced (not drained and reused).  This keeps things clean and prevents outside air from entering his body through this hole in his side (a good thing to prevent).

Jim was good and properly doped up for today's procedure.  He has been telling me the most remarkable things. He asked if the USC stadium was nearby.  He told me he could hear their marching band.  Then he claimed he could hear music from the room next door (next door is closet for collecting used food trays, no music unless the plastic trays can carry a tune).  When he was getting wheeled out of the CT room, he asked me if Brian Caplen was there; said he heard Brian's voice.  When Jim gets Ablecet, the anti-funal medication, he also gets Demerol. That makes for more interesting comments, overly vivid dreams and a lot of rather dance-like hand movements, though the stated purpose of the Demerol is to prevent the shakes, a very uncomfortable side effect of Ablecet. Yes, we did check and no, there are no fungi in his brain or sinuses.  Just Jim and his drugs entertaining us.