Tuesday news

Luke's lung is continuing its struggle to completely re-inflate. We just met with one of the surgeons again, and here is the update. They will be increasing the suction on the chest tube, which may help to inflate the top of the lung. If not, they will most likely need to put in a second chest tube in the upper front section, so that it can access the top of the lung better. This may be able to be done bedside, otherwise it's back to the O.R.
They've up'ed his pain meds so he is a bit more comfortable for now.

KAAL

Post-op

After a long day of waiting, Luke was finally taken down to the surgical floor around 4:15pm Monday. We were given our beeper (so they could notify us when he's in recovery), and we went to the cafeteria for dinner.
Around 7:30 or so, the surgeon came out to speak with us and said that things could not have gone better. They stapled off (16 staples) the problematic section at the top of his left lung, then did he pleurodesis by irritating the lung and cavity by scraping it and applying talc. This will allow the lung, when re-inflated, to stick to the cavity wall via scar tissue, thus minimizing the chances of future collapses.
In the recovery room, Luke was in a lot of pain and the xrays showed that his lung had not fully re-inflated. We waited an hour or two, did more xrays and they decided to send him back to his room to sleep and will re-evaluate things in the morning.

Holiday decor

Monday morning, the girls showed up and brought some holiday ambiance. It's not easy to make a hospital room warm and cozy, but you do what you can.

Waiting for surgery

It is a gray & gloomy day in Palo Alto, but things are going well for Luke. He is feeling much better than last night and surgery is scheduled for 2pm.
Not much new to report; the doctors/nurses are great and his room is wonderful.

Thanks for all the love, support & prayers!

KAAL

Sunday night

Today was not as comfortable for Luke as other days; I think there were some pre-surgery nerves. He struggled with headaches and nausea, but he's resting well now and we are anxious to get the surgery done tomorrow.
Thanks again to the Herrins for their visit; Luke really appreciated it.
We were moved out of PICU today and up to the 3rd floor, so he has a nice, quiet room with his own bathroom/tub/shower.
They delivered fish sticks for dinner (no one remembers ordering them) and Luke about lost his breakfast when I opened the lid. Instead, we ordered Round Table pizza for dinner (I didn't know you could have pizza delivered to the hospital), but unfortunately the nausea got the best of him after 1/2 a slice and it turned out about as well as the fish sticks would have.
As always, thank you for all you thoughts and prayers.

KAAL

This morning's update

Well,
We've met with many great Dr's & nurses this morning and here is the latest. The plan is that tomorrow afternoon, Luke will have a blebectomy & pleurodesis on his left lung. The surgeon who is doing the procedure is Dr. Craig Albanese (Division Chief, Pediatric General Surgery). They feel that they may be able to go in through the same entry points as before, creating less scars and scar tissue.
We feel very lucky to have such great care here and we are praying for a successful procedure and a quick recovery.
Luke is resting comfortably and is a little anxious about tomorrow.

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