Two Tubes Down, Two More to Go

You know, sometimes I'm a real loser.  Here we are five days removed from the miracle of a perfect surgery, and I'm already complaining.  If I were an Israelite in the time of Moses, I would have been one of the people complaining about the sand between my toes and as I ran across the floor of the Red Sea.  Or if I were with Lehi's band, I might have been perfectly happy hanging with Laman and Lemuel.

My complaining early today was centered on the fact that I wasn't happy that the medical staff wanted to play it safe and keep Abby's ventilator tube in one more day--just to make sure the lungs had fully recovered from being out of commission during surgery.  I, of course, was focusing on all the negative aspects of the tube:  (1) the gag reflex that it causes sometimes; (2) the sedation it requires (which can counteract the recovery process); (3) the fact that it is prolongs pushes back the eating process by yet another day.  So, when Dr. Jeff was told this morning that they weren't going to extubate--the medical term for yanking the tube out of one's throat--I wasn't too happy about it, and started wondering if our highly-trained, cardiovascular specialists were making a mistake.  Funny thing is, I actually had myself convinced of just that for about two hours (of course, just ask my 14-year old, Samantha, and she will attest that he father always thinks he's right).

Then I came to my senses.  After all, these people had just moved Abigail's transposed Great Arteries, patched several holes in her heart, and fixed the coarctation of her aorta (spliced her aorta to make it wider).  I figure they probably ought to be trusted to know when it's time to remove the ventilator tube from her mouth and windpipe.  So, I stopped complaining.  Consequently, I'm much happier.  Funny how that works . . .

The pictures above show Abigail with (1) her chest closed up (with gauze over the stitching); (2) and two of her three drainage tubes removed.  Even though we were disappointed to learn the ventilator tube wasn't coming out, we were thrilled that sometime early in the morning they took out two of the three drainage tubes protruding from her chest.  Those tubes are there help the body get rid of the excess blood and fluid that build up during and after surgery.  So, two major tubes out, and two more to go.  Cross your fingers (just don't complain).