Hemopneumothorax

This morning, when my doctors made their rounds, I told them about all the pain I was in.  That earned me a couple sets of x-rays this afternoon.  One for my hand, one for my ribs.

Not my real x-ray

I haven't heard anything about the hand yet, but the verdict on the chest is that I have a hemopneumothorax.  Apparently it can be quite dangerous but they're not sure yet how bad it is.  Right now, I'm waiting for a thoracic surgeon to come up here and evaluate me.  I may get to have surgery to insert a drainage tube in my chest.  The surgery might happen tonight.  I'm really excited about the possibility.

I'll let you know what they say.

Update 6:33 PM

Looks like we're going to start with a procedure where they attempt to drain off the fluid with a big needle.  If that doesn't work, they will put in a tube the size of a garden hose.  I suggest nobody come visit tomorrow.

Update 7:45 PM

This is Andrew.  Ghostwriting for Jason, who is currently lying beside me in a drugged stupor.  The procedure went well.

Here's the needle.

Jason getting stabbed in the lung.

The surgery team removed over 900 ml of fluid (mostly blood) from Jason's chest cavity.

That's a LOT of blood!

He's breathing easier now, but we're waiting for the x-rays to show us what's going on in there.

Update 9:25 PM

Turns out they gave Jason quite a dose of pain meds.  He was passed out by 8:30.

La-La Land.

Sleep tight buddy.

Update 5/19 - 9:05 AM

We haven't seen the x-rays from yesterday, but the docs. tell us that the fluid is probably gone from Jason's lungs.  Now we're waiting for new x-rays to determine whether or not whatever caused it has stopped.

If he hasn't stopped leaking, then I'm told that the doctors will jam a tube in Jason's side, roughly the size of my finger to make sure he stays clear.  Jason tells me he's in a lot of pain.

Ashley points out that having a thoracic surgery team on site is one of the good reasons to do your rehab at a hospital.  Like this one.

Update 5/19 - 1:00 PM

Well, I'm finally awake and alert, and feeling good enough to work on the computer a little bit.   I've still got some pain that I think is related to the giant needle they jammed in my back last night.  They have changed my pain meds a little bit, so that may be helping.  I'm not sure yet.  I'm also still waiting to hear back on the x-rays they took this morning.

It feels really good to have a day off.  I feel like I've been pushing really hard all week without enough rest, so in spite of the pain, it feels incredibly good to just lie here today with nothing at all to do.

Update 5/19 - 1:30 PM

I have been getting a lot of questions today about whether they know what caused the leakage in my chest cavity.  I'm not entirely sure, but I think they have a pretty good guess.  I heard the surgeons say it looked like the rupture was caused by trauma.  I took that to mean that it was caused by the accident, and possibly by the broken ribs that were incurred in the crash.

Update 5/19 - 3:00 PM

I finally talked to my doctor about the x-ray that was taken today.  She said the shot shows that there is still some fluid in my chest, but the film was taken with a mobile x-ray machine that does not take images from the side, and without that view, they don't want to make a final judgement on what to do.  They also don't want to expose me to any more radiation today.  I assume they are worried I will start to develop super powers.

So the plan is for me to go back down to the basement tomorrow morning for some better x-rays and then they will decide how I'm doing.  Until then, I guess I'll just keep relaxing and puffing on my incentive spirometer.

Update 5/20 - 1:00 PM

I got wheeled to the basement at 7:00 AM this morning for more x-rays, and after hearing a lot of speculation about them all day, I have finally heard that the amount of fluid remaining in my chest is small, and the surgeons don't intend to drain me any further.  This is very happy news for me, and has led to the belated consumption of birthday cake.

Update 5/21 - 8:30 PM

I have gotten a lot of questions about what caused the leak in my chest.  The short answer is that I don't know, and I don't think the surgeons are sure either.  I heard them mention that they thought trauma was likely the cause, and I suspect that one of the exercises I did in therapy on Thursday caused one of my broken ribs to puncture something important.  This is just speculation, but it's all you're going to get unless the leak starts back up.