Chest Tubes, Food, and TONS of Meds

To help with all the drainage from his surgery, Graham has 4 chest tubes coming out of his side. Two on the right and two on the left side.  These are a somewhere between 1/2 inch to inch in diameter (never been good at estimating measurement) and are sewn into his side.  They hurt!  All his doctors and nurses have confirmed that they are the most painful part of the whole thing.  Anytime he moves, he puts pressure on them and you can just see his brow crunch up and his toes start to wiggle in pain.  Unfortunately for him, since he was so bad off prior to transplant, and had such horrible lungs, these tubes are going to stay with him longer than average.  Introduce Morphine pump.  Graham has never been one to take unnecessary meds.  He figures that he puts so much into his system already, why mess up his kidneys any more.  However, when the doctor began talking about this button he can press and all worries of pain would go away, I swear twinkle lights started blinking around him.  I have not been down to see if he actually has received this great pain reliever, but I hope he has.  Less pain, less stress, quicker recovery.
A funny side note.  Graham has a prized tattoo.  He'll show a complete stranger in the grocery store (and I thought my kid was going to embarrass me in life).  It's a copy of the wheelchair guy you see in parking lots, handicap placards, and for the past few years, Graham's chest.  I've actually become to really like it too, it's part of who he is.  Well, when the surgeon drew the lines across his chest (if you're wondering...it is a clam shell incision that goes from the right under his arm all the way to the left, about an inch - for the lack of a better word - under his nipples) he drew right though the tattoo.  One of the nurses working during the surgery was like, Oh No Dr. Meyer, you can't ruin a perfectly good tattoo like that!  Can you not move it down just a tad.  And though he might never admit it, this man became Graham's best friend.  Haha!
Graham's nurse yesterday was great.  Even though Dr. Rosenblatt said only a few ice chips, she brought him a big ol glass of ice water.  Best tasting water he's ever had!  He finished it in record time.  And because of this, the Dr. saw how well he could handle fluids he worked himself up to cheese and chocolate ice cream last night...sounds like a pregnant woman's favorite meal huh?  He savored every bite.  Graham even said, I don't remember Blue Bell cups tasting that good.  He's such a funny guy. 
And here come all the rejection meds.  To get in to see Graham, you have to garb up.  I was just putting on the finishing touches when someone from pharmacy comes up and tells me, "I'm putting Bed 8's Chemo in the fridge for later." Me: "WHAT?????"  So the woman just kindly repeats herself.  Luckily, another nurse walks up at that moment and sees the horror in my face and explains to her that I'm the wife and have no clue what meds she's talking about.  Then turns to me and explains that it is his immune suppressant drugs that Cancer patients also take so those in the medical world just refer to them as "Chemo."  Thank GOD for her, hyperventilation might have set in REALLY quick.
They have a few more things they are monitoring...kidney functions, how his diaphragm is working, and getting all his meds on a good schedule.  But hopefully he will be moved out of ICU today or tomorrow.  I am so proud of my husband, he has really fought a battle this week and worked a miracle!