Two tubes again, but for how long?

Hello everyone,

Time for another update. Peter spent four contented days with only one chest tube. The occupational therapists even brought him a bouncy seat, which he loves. What a nice break from lying in a bed all day and all night! I also got to hold him several times over the past few days.

On Thursday night, however, the chyle leak on the left side suddenly stopped. While this sounds like a good thing--a wonderful thing--it was not altogether comfortable for Peter. The fluids began to build up in his body, his heart rate soared (200 beats per minute as opposed to the healthy range of 130s and 140s), and his breathing became labored. The doctor replaced his left chest tube yesterday morning and when we left the hospital it was draining as usual.

By this morning, however, the chyle had stopped again. A chest and abdomen X-ray and an ultrasound showed only one smallish pocket of fluid on his right--the rest of the chyle is building up in his tissues as edema. Thus, the doctor reinserted the right chest tube to drain out that pocket of fluid, but does not expect the drainage to continue for long. Getting rid of that fluid helped Peter's breathing and heart return to normal rhythms. His torso is still extremely puffy, though his head, arms and legs are not affected.

Peter has been put on a new diuretic since his body has become unresponsive to the one he had been receiving. The doctor tells us that sudden stoppage of a chyle leak does sometimes happen, in rare cases (well, what would we expect from Peter by now?). His body now has to find a way to get rid of this excess fluid ASAP. The fluid buildup puts pressure on all his organs, but his kidneys are at the most risk. When we left the hospital today Peter was heavily sedated but trying his very best to stay awake and look at us. Nothing keeps him down for long! Please pray for Peter to get rid of the excess fluid in his body and for his kidneys to remain healthy. In short: pray for pee, and lots of it.