Everything Is Out of Whack

On Dalton's first post-op day, Dr. DeMeester's nurse dropped by to see how he was doing and offer some encouragement. Toward the end of the conversation, she offhandedly remarked, "Now, don't forget that we don't start seeing a lot of the complications until day three or four." I was kind of irked by this comment because Dalton seemed to be doing so well. Of course, she knew waht she was talking about...

It's hard to say which of Dalton's problems is most concerning. They all seem to play off of each other and yet its hard to find a single connection. Here's a brief list of everything that is out of whack.

1) Apparently, he had a collapsed right lung yesterday morning. His lungs continue to be an issue even though he is aggressively attacking the coughing and deep breathing. Pneumonia is a HUGE concern because it causes many deaths in postsurgery patients.

2) His fever came back again with a vengeance. Obviously, infection and pneumonia being the concerns.

3) His blood pressure is still unstable. It dropped again last night and they had to give him more medicine to bring it back up.

4) He has decreased urine output, but I don't know what the significance of that it.

5) His right chest tube is still draining a lot of fluid, indicating the potential of a thoracic duct leak.

It's all a bit overwhelming right now and I'm not sure what to make of it all, so I'm just trying to stay focused on the here and now. Thanks for everyone's prayers, concern, and help.