day 17 in hospital

hello to everyone. cara is getting a bit stronger and is eating and drinking more. she does not need oxygen or heart monitoring anymore and only takes mild pain medication during the day so that the pain does not restrict her from moving. she is still on the diuretic lassex which she will have to continue taking for a while to drain fluids from her chest cavity. so we are on day 14 of chest drainage and tubes in, very frustrating as without that chest tube we could get out of this hospital. the cardiologist told me yesterday that once patients are past one week of drainage it unfortunately tends to carry on for some time. but, her rate of drainage seems to move in a pattern of slowly going downwards every 4 to 5 days and it looks as if we have reached another lower level, as yesterday it was 71 and today 36, this has been the 2 lowest consecutive days so far. the surgeons want the output below 30 for 2 days in a row, then the tube can be removed. so there is a glimmer of hope on the far horizon. we will keep you posted!