Day 6 - Not too soon

The doctors came in this morning and said that a chest X-ray would happen around 7:30am. If everything looked ok, they would pull the chest tube and observe him for a few hours and we would be released to go home. I sent Brett a message and told him to be sure to get Ryan's clothes together. Comfy pants, socks, t-shirt and comfy shoes. I felt like it would be best if he could have everything ready in case we were released.

The X-Ray tech came in snapped the X-Ray and within an hour we had our answers. We would not be going home today. Ryan's lung had begun to collapse without the suction. They decided to begin suction again and at noon turn the suction down to a '10'. It was currently at '20'. They would take an X-Ray at 3:00pm and let us know the results. This time the results were a little slower coming.

I took Syd to a movie to break up the day. I think this trip has been hard for her. We're back and forth between the hospital every day. We're here for a few hours, and then we're gone for a few hours, then we're back again. We do not have a good wifi signal in our room at the Ronald McDonald House so we don't really have entertainment other than the board game that we have played several times and books that Sydney has no interest in reading.

Syd and I arrived back at the hotel around 5:30 PM. I told Brett to head out and get some dinner and I would ask about the X-ray results. Our nurse came in and I asked if he would please contact the Dr. to see if we needed to go back up on the suction. He agreed and a short time later the Dr was on the phone wanting to speak with me.

Ryan's lung was staying inflated with the new suction. All good news. They would plan to continue this amount of suction and then reassess in the morning.

Below is the update I sent to family -

Update Day 6 -

This morning the docs came in around 7:30. They ordered a chest xray and said they would return with results. When Radiology comes to the room and it is a painful procedure. A hard film is placed behind Ryan's back and we have to situate him in the bed just right. Any movement in bed aggravates the tube against the chest wall and it is painful. The image was taken and within an hour the doctors were in the room to give us results. The lung was beginning to collapse without suction. There was still a leak. The chest tube would not be coming out today.

They began full suction in the morning. At noon they cut the suction in half and Ryan had another chest xray at 3pm. We just received the results and the lung is back to full inflation. They will continue the suction at 1/2 strength through the night and take another xray in the morning. If it is still inflated, they will trial no suction again tomorrow and we will start the process all over again.

Our miracle for the day - the lung did not fully collapse during the trial of no suction.

At the risk of sounding like a total jerk....  I realize that people are trying to be helpful, but I don't update everyone to receive their advice in return. This is not our first rodeo. We are here 24-hours a day with Ryan. We are aware of what he needs, and he is no longer a baby. No decision is made without his consent. We ask him what he feels like he wants and we do everything we can to accommodate him. We will not put him in a car that is not comfortable. We will not force him to drive farther than he is able. We will not rush home when he needs to spend time healing. Everything we have ever done in Ryan's life is in his best interest. Period.