Tube free!

This post has images of Samuel's chest tubes being removed. One includes a gooey mass of blood clot. You've been made aware, don't scroll past the hash marks (#) if such a thing will gross you out, make you puke, or otherwise make you dizzy, etc. There are other images I consider less potentially challenging of his tubes in is body. You may find those a bother. If so, don't scroll past the second photo.

Meet Katie, the Physician's Assistant:She is not a nurse, but a licensed P.A. who actually assisted in the surgery. She is really nice and very professional.

This is Samuel's nurse today, Abbie:
She was in the process of giving him morphine in preparation for removal of the tubes they inserted last Thursday during the surgery.

Here Katie is just removing the bandages that have been protecting the wound around the first tube (right side):

Here the bandage is removed from around the second tube (center):

Here is the work to be done - remove the 2 wires (pacing wires that were never needed [yay!]) and 2 tubes:

Katie yanks (literally) the first pacing wire after removing the stitch that held it in place:

This is a moment after the second wire was yanked:
The little blemish to the lower left of her middle finger is the mark / scar left from this wire.

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This image is just missing the tube that was in the center position of his chest. The thing that looks like a long skinny reddish slug is the blood clot I had mentioned:
As she closed off the wound with stitches that were in place the whole time, I could still see clot on the wound. I have to admit that I had a little anxiety that it was a body organ, but was assured (as I'm sure other parents have been - thinking it might be intestine or something) it was just clot.

Here, Katie removes the knot holding the right tube in place:

The right tube is yanked:All of this yanking was fairly traumatic. Samuel hollered with each one. I'm trying not to imagine what that would have been if he didn't have the morphine.

2 more, possibly 4, new scars are born:

It was a bit more intense than I might have guessed. It left me a little light headed. However, I am much more relived that we have progressed this well and that Samuel is less dependent on technology now. He is on 1 litre of O2 now only. He is still having his vitals monitored.

The whole process of this was a bit stressful as Samuel was fairly agitated as they were yanking things out. I held his hand throughout and was glad to be there for him.