Chest Drain & Heart Racing

So, mums had a bit of a rough afternoon.

The doctor said that shes had a line changed (I think for the kidney dialysis machine) apparently its an old one that needed changing.

They tried to put it in her thigh because thats where the previous ones have been. They couldn’t get it, so then they tried to put it in her neck. Apparently that didn’t go well either and her heart started to race. So they gave her an electric shock to slow her heart rate. They did an x-ray and found that her left lung has been leaking. It wasn’t there yesterday when they x-rayed her but they’ve had to do a chest drain to remove some fluid/air from the around the lung. Her oxygens gone back up to around 70%-75% from 65%.

Has anyone else experienced this? The doctor said shes fine, but this sounds really scary.

Thanks 🙏🏼

[Sepsur]

Yes - always changing all the IV lines & various catheters causes stress & trauma although I wasn’t awake, my stats would go haywire - I had GI bleeds from proning. I had lines in my neck & groin( I think) - I’m not quite sure where the line for dialysis came & went. I have a weird scar under my left breast that I am assuming is a chest drain after severe ARDS. I also got shocked a few times to try and get my heart to beat right.

[Hidden in reply to Sepsur]

Thanks - your messages on here are I think are really helping many people, myself included. As well as the process, its good to know a bit about what happens afterwards. I guess mum will be left with lots of scars and bruising from all the equipment x

[jayniej]

hi

i have just read your story and my dad too has had similar issues if not some of the same. He has been in 6 weeks now & had drains in as they found air in the chest cavity ( pneumothorax) then recently

blood in the chest cavity ( haemothorax)

it was only found due to him having a very fast heart rhythm that they call A Fib but it was like super fast so they gave him a CT scan & found the blood pooling around his lungs. He went to theatre & had a operation to see where the bleed was coming from and also left drains in to release any remaining blood.

Same with the pneumothorax a few weeks back they left the drain in so drains are a good way or releasing any fluid or air... ive been hanging on to every word they say & researching it on the internet!

The shock to the heart is a cardioversion where they shock the heart to send it back to its normal rhythm.. my dad didn’t end up having this in the end though as they changed his meds & this seemed to work more in his favour!

The lines cant stay in too long they need to keep moving them to stop any infection ( so like a sell by date)

im no expert but i have found alot of info on here or just by googling things..

i do hope your mum will be ok, such a horrible situation we have all found ourselves in xx

[Hidden in reply to jayniej]

Thanks for letting me know that. I was trying to google but didn’t really get it but your message helped. I’m now realising it’s not such a bad thing as I thought it was.

How is your dad now after having the chest drain? x

[HopefulA]

Not had this with dad but sending hugs and positive vibes to mum and you x

[Hidden in reply to HopefulA]

Thank you and same to you, lets see what tomorrow brings x

[Hidden]

Thanks ♥️

We’ve just FaceTimed to her and chatting to her even though shes sedated. She looks so swollen, it’s heartbreaking. I didn’t keep it together very well and started to cry. Even though they said shes fine, I’ll probably overly obsess over the details. Xx

[Mccarthy0702]

Yer my dad had the chest drain in last week for four day’s and took a lot of fluid off and has since improved daily . He’s now not needing the kidney dialysis for a week either and his blood sugars levelled out and not needing the insulin pump.

It might be what she needs to kick start her recovery as my dads condition was static untill they drained the fluid. He’s now on 28 % oxygen and being weaned off ventilator.

Try to think of it as a positive that they have came across something they are able to correct and help her move on x

[Hidden in reply to Mccarthy0702]

I can really really hope the same happens, that sounds like amazing progress. Your dad has done so well! Thank you for sharing that, its given me some positivity x

[Mccarthy0702]

It’s so hard to even take the positives I know as you just feel like your waiting for the next problem to come along.

Some days are better than others , he was on the kidney dialysis for 4 weeks plus and I know that what shocked me the most when suddenly he didn’t need it no more.

He was so swollen also and doctors said they was running out of veins and struggling to get lines in which was a real worry , since this chest drain and now his kidneys have improved his swelling has improved so much.

Still every day they are in ICU it’s a worry but am just taking it every day as it comes . My little mum asks me every day “ how long do you think it will be before your dads home” .

I don’t tell her half of the in and outs of his condition it’s best that way . Your mum has fought this long she’s got the fighting spirit she will get there xx

[Hidden in reply to Mccarthy0702]

Your situation sounds so similar. I hope my mum goes on to improve like your dad.

My dad keeps saying “Mum just needs to wake up and then she will be okay”, I haven’t got the heart to tell him that even if she comes of sedation and wakes up, thats just a next small step. Even waking up is going to be a rollercoaster journey in itself.

Thanks for your kind words, it’s made me feel a little better tonight x

[RockRunner]

Hi I would say the same as the others, my husband’s Chest x Ray showed fluid on the lungs so they drained it and he has improve his breathing since. He wasn’t progressing really with weaning but yesterday breathed for 2 hours on his own. also they change the lines regularly to stop infection and they take them on and off dialysis to try and kick start the kidneys. They then have to resedate to put the line back in. My husband’s is in his neck. Their oxygen requirements do go up and down depending on what they are doing with them in the day. Keeping everything crossed for continued progress xx