Day 25 & 26

 

*UPDATES*

4/22/23 1:15PM

DAY 26

Tony's having a rough day. His stomach is NOT appreciating the clears, and he feels miserable.

His lung has further collapsed, and the fluid is increasing on the left side. They are going in to drain the lung at 1:30pm and will culture to see if there's an infection there also.

They may end up putting a tube in as well.

He's been asleep most of today.

We really hoped today would be better, but so far, he's just not turned a corner. 

We are asking for prayers. 

We need turn-around.

*UPDATES*

4/21/23 @5:45PM

LONGEST DAY EVER.

Tony went in this morning around 10:15am to have IR place the drainage tube on the outside of his stomach. 

Then, at 12:15 p.m., he went in with GI to have the stints placed. They were able to drain an entire container. (see picture of EMPTY container. You're welcome.)

The drainage on his abdomen has a bag attached to it, and it has also started to collect quite a bit of YUCK. (No picture. You're welcome.)

He went "under" twice today. 

He struggled a bit in recovery with significant chest pains. That bought us a chest x-ray and EKG to rule out anything cardiac. All systems are good there, but he is still having pain.

We are FINALLY back in the room at 5:15pm and GUESS WHO'S HAVING TEA!? 

MY MAN, that's who! Lipton. (Nothing but the best.)

Sooooo. The not great news: 

*all the "yuck" is infected. 

The good news:

*They know which antibiotics to use to treat it specifically and successfully. 

The other Not-So-Great news:

*They have to go in again and drain more every 2-3 days. He will be fully put under each time, but they expect having to go in 4, maybe more times. There is a possibility that Tony will be discharged in a few weeks to a skilled nursing facility where they can monitor him. But, it really all depends on the progress here.

Tony's oxygen has been low. The two partial collapsed lungs are starting to collect some fluid, and it is IMPERATIVE that he doesn't get pneumonia. He is on oxygen now until his numbers improve.

They want to supplement his feeding tube with clear liquids. (Hence, the tea.) But, I can see the trepidation in his eyes because that set him sooooo far back at Legacy. The doctor who did the procedure is on-call this weekend, so he plans to closely monitor and do another CT over the weekend.

Thank you for praying us through today. Would you pretty please continue?

It's important that I'm here for these procedures and especially when he's coming out of anesthesia. Because of that, I may need some help this week with the kiddos if I end up having to stay the night.

I feel like I can breathe a little, but we're not out of the woods by any means. And gosh golly, we'd sure like to be. Would you pray for all of these things?

* Side note: When Tony came to from anesthesia, he thought Doc gave him a bionic arm like The Six Million Dollar Man. He then proceeded to say to me, "I need to go hit some forehands with this arm." (And then proceeded to swing groundies.)  He just couldn't believe the power coursing through his veins. 

When I tell you this man eats, sleeps, and BREATHES tennis, I speak truth. 

I'm sure in the next few weeks, I'll be tasked with bringing fresh undies AND his racket.

Look out, VTC. The Bionic Man is on the comeback.

*Side note #2: At the time of writing this. 6:22pm. Tony gave me 100% permission to share his bionic epiphany, and he's completely right in the head.