Another Day, Another Tube Taken Out of Our Daughter

Yesterday was a long day but a good day. Tessa did some more go-karting - we’ve found it hard to break the world land speed record due to the number of tubes, cables, and wires coming out of her and off her, dragging the IV and epidural pole around with us. But I’m confident we’ll go down in history - if not as the fastest go-kart champion, then at least as the cutest. Tessa is starting to feel better, which manifests itself in being adorably articulate as she expresses herself to the staff here. She also spent some time writing, coloring and placing stickers in "my field journal, daddy." She had a lot of x-rays (which are painful… or at least scary for her; sometimes it’s hard to tell what the source of the tears are). But she did great. Our nurses, Mike and Mike, were great, too.



They took out her chest tube in the afternoon, which almost made me pass out. So we won’t relay any of the details here. The x-rays, and listening to her chest, revealed a minor concern: a small pneumothorax (a bubble of air trapped between her lung and her chest wall). While unexpected, they’ll continue to watch it via ongoing periodic x-rays. It is thought that it is something that will resolve itself.

Emily Prince brought Justin down for a visit last night. He accidentally locked himself in her car while I was unloading some gifts for Tessa - and after Emily had already left taking her keys with her. Justin went ballistic. We eventually found the automatic unlock button, and opened the door, which then set off the car alarm - amplified by the cavernous concrete of the parking garage. Not good for Justin’s nerves. Or mine, for that matter. But eventually, we got him up to the room to see Tess and mom.

It was a good visit, and they were very cute. Justin helped Tessa be brave for another x-ray, holding her hand until he and mom had to leave the room to avoid the radiation. Then, we all settled in for a few minutes of Cinderella together.



I took Justin home last night, while Jo stayed at the hospital. A better night, so we’ll see how today goes. Tessa woke up with sudden pain a number of times, but seems to be doing better now. She looks and sounds great this morning. So we’re hopeful for a good day. She’s giving her Tessa attitude to anyone who will pay her any mind - which is endearing, a little embarassing at her shameless attention-getting demeanor, and yet, she’s our little Tess. What is a “wrapped-around-her-little-finger”ed dad to do?


Tess loving her itchyness meds