Tubes Out

The chest tubes were taken out this morning around 11:00. I gotta tell you, I envisioned these tubes to be probably 2-3 inches long inside the lungs. I was standing there while the nurse pulled them out and could NOT believe my eyes. Each tube (he had two) was approx. 9 inches long, 22 cm to be exact-- INSIDE the lung! No wonder he gasped in pain with each breath and tried to lay as still as possible. As I said last night, pray you never have to have a chest tube. Needless to say, things are much better now. He's off the morphine, just taking an oral pain killer every 4 hours. We even walked a short distance in the hall after lunch.

We did get a pathology report today telling us what type of fungal infection we're dealing with. The doctors are planning a "meeting of the minds" to figure out what med. is going to be best for Ray, considering he's getting ready for a transplant.

I'm expecting great strides to be made now and be able to get him home in the next day or two. Thanks for all your prayers. Please don't stop!

Love you all,
Kim