Andi

Update on Andi:

She is home now. Her lung randomly collapsed. Apparently it can happen to thin, tall, men. She has one of the three and for some reason her left lung kept collapsing. About the 4th time it collapsed, the docs said she'd have to have surgery to repair it. There was some hole in the lining of her lung (the pleura) and so like a balloon with a hole in it, her lunch couldn't stay "inflated." They went into her lung and "roughed up" the lining (ouch) so that it would be "sticky" again and her lung would "stick" to the pleura. I guess naturally we all have some sticky substance but if your lung collapses too much then the sticky dries up and to make it sticky again they "scratch it up". Sounds like creating scar tissue to me. :(

Anyway, they did this and left a chest tube in her side to keep the suction on her lung and to make sure there is no leak. She was only supposed to be in the hospital about 3 to 4 days but she was there a week or so. It's been very painful. They had an epidural in her back the whole time to numb the pain PLUS gave her pain pills.

Now she is home, WITHOUT the epidural and in a LOT of pain because she can now feel everything. She has some pills, but she's pretty bad. Her mom has been here taking care of her for about 3 weeks. She missed Aubrey's graduation that she had planned to go to. I know she'll be bummed about that.

The Docs say she should heal in about 3 weeks and be able to go on her honeymoon, but if she doesn't, then she can't fly anywhere until her lung is completely healed (cabin pressure on a plane could collapse her lung). Pray that she can be healthy for her wedding and honeymoon.

Her house is full of people right now. Brandon moved his stuff in because he had to get out of the dorms. Her mom is still there, Sarah, of course is living there, and Raelyn moved in temporarily for a month. It's a little house and a lot of people. You know Andi will never complain, but I am praying that she will be okay and get all the rest she needs.

I'd recommend emailing her pager before calling and find a good time to call her if she's taking calls, etc. I'm sure she'd love to hear from people. (Contact me if you want the address- if I put it up here every spammer in the world will get it.)

Barbara