Almost There!-13

     On November 1st we went home for a few hours, had dinner at home as a family and then headed back to the hospital. It seemed as though Jeremy was having an increase in breathing while we were at home, but he looked so comfortable, not in distress at all. When we got back it was apparent that Jeremy was working really hard to breathe, but as usual he remained calm and collected. They did a chest x-ray and lo and behold, there was another pneumothorax!!!! This one was still on his right lung, but because the upper and middle lobe were repaired and remained this way, the pneumo found its way to the bottom lower lobe. The doctors said it was really small so they thought that putting Jeremy on oxygen would correct things. He went on 2L of oxygen, Jeremy's breathing decreased and became less laboured. However by the next day, he was at a stand still, things were not improving. In went another chest tube. This time they put in what was called a pigtail catheter. It was put in by radiology and was much smaller and more supple, making it more tolerable.
     On November 2nd, a photography team came to the hospital to do a free family photo session. Brent and I jumped on this opportunity as we really wanted photos of our new family but never really came across a time when we weren't in the hospital. The timing couldn't have been better! That day Jeremy was tube free as they were trialling him on oxygen for the day. So for 45mins we had him tube free to get our photos done.

     On November 4th they did a colonoscopy and biopsy of healthy tissue and also of a red lesion in Jeremy's descending colon. The news was quite positive, the intestines looked much healthier and they were unable to locate the really large lesion/ulcer that was there in June! All this chemo was doing something! The plan was to continue with another round of ICE and then do an MRI the week of November 28th to determine what would come next.

Jeremy figuring out how to grab things with both hands.

     As for the chest tube, the plan was to keep it in for at least another two weeks. They really wanted the pneumothorax to resolve on its own. If it did not go on its own, the surgeon would inject talc into his pleural cavity via the pigtail catheter, hence the reason they put this one in this time because it was in a very precise position due to the fact that radiology inserted it. This talc would create a slurry in his pleural cavity that would cause irritation to the walls of his chest and cause a seal. It wasn't the best alternative just for the fact that it had a possibility of causing problems later on in Jeremy's life when the lung would need to grow and expand. Therefore, this plan was a definite alternative and would only come into effect if absolutely necessary.

Showing off his latest accessories

Another day at the park (Redwoods)

     So by this time, Jeremy had the chest tube for a total of  two months. This meant that although we held him, he spent most of his time on his back because it was the most comfortable position for him to be in. This meant that his physical development was lacking. He still hadn't found his feet at 5 months (this is something that usually occurs at about 2-3 months), he wasn't rolling over and he was getting a very pronounced flat head in the back. We got physio involved and although the positions were limited, we tried to keep him off the back of his head as much as possible. This meant a lot of side-lying which Jeremy found incredibly comfortable, so much so that it was a guarantee that he would fall asleep within 5 minutes once put on his side.

Our little poser!

Sitting in his physio chair, laughing it up. Jeremy really loves the sound of his voice and loves to laugh and "talk" with his mouth closed

Chloe and Jeremy checking each other out....so cute!

     The supple pigtail catheter was much more comfortable for Jeremy, at least it seemed as though he was tolerating it much better but it did not come without it's own headaches. Because the tubing was so thin and so supple it kept getting kinked. When this would happen Jeremy would scream out in pain and his heart rate and resp rate would go through the roof. The only way to fix this problem was to splint the tube. So with a make-shift splint out of a tongue depressor, Q-tips and tape the tube would be held in a flattened  position so it could no longer kink. This held until the end of the month of November. By that time, on the     29th the tube was once again clamped and everything looked groovy!!

     On December 2nd after an X-ray, they pulled out the chest tube. In the afternoon everything still looked great and Jeremy's lungs were holding up on their own!!!! After two long months of having a chest tube, he was finally tube free!!!!!