Chest tubes

Samuel is feeling much better. I showed up today and he was ready to go mobile. We took about 3 laps around the third floor common area. He was feeling strong and a bit more like himself. With the tubes in, he struggles to stay upright. I don't know what it means to have tubes in my belly, so I do my best to help him stand straight.

The doctors just did their rounds. The two women below are the Nurse Practitioners (I believe) that have been following his case. Samuel is definitely back to normal attitude-wise. He asked if she (the one in stripes) was engaged (she's not):
I asked him if he had plans. He didn't respond.

He had an X-Ray this morning and an EKG. They have determined that the chest tubes aren't draining as much fluid as they had been and his X-Ray shows the lung much clearer than yesterday.

They decided to pull his chest tubes. If the X-Ray of the lungs tomorrow continue to be clear, he will be released tomorrow at 1:00 PM. However, if not, they will see how he is doing tomorrow.

They really want to pull that neck line and the other IV lines in his arm. There are just 2 of the lines in his right arm at this time. They want these out as they offer potential for infection. However we have been really clear that having them in is a good thing if they are going to need to draw blood. We have been clear with them, if you don't have one of these lines to draw blood, you are going to be on your own to hold him down and deal with the process of getting the draw you need. They are going to leave the lines in for now.

The nurse will be in here momentarily to give him some morphine so that they can pull the tubes and complete the creation of 4 new scars (2 chest tubes and 2 sets of pacing wires).