It's pneumothorax Thursday!!

[J] She's fine, but has experienced her first complication. Every procedure and sub-procedure seems to have a 1% chance of something going wrong. Marisa's batting average is now flawed. Yesterday's aneurysm operation required a central venous catheter. According to Wikipedia, 1% of central venous catheter insertions result in a pneumothorax. A pneomothorax is a collapsed lung, the condition made famous by Travis Pastrana and the Insane Clown Posse. Since Marisa's condition was caused by a needle stick, rather than a high speed collision between man and earth, the doctor's were able to fix the problem fairly easily. She had a tube inserted into her chest cavity a couple of hours ago. According to Marisa it didn't hurt too bad. She gave the pain a "6." After a little more painkiller, she's back down to a "2." The tube is hooked-up to the hospital's vacuum system; reducing pressure around the lungs. As a result, the punctured lung re-inflates and continues to function. According to the doctors, the hole created by the needle should heal by tomorrow. They plan on removing the tube then. Marisa will stay in the ICU until the tube is removed. Her angiogram has been postponed until after her lung is back to 100%.

According to the doctors, Marisa's collapsed lung is not as bad as it sounds. When a collapsed lung is caused by major trauma, things can go very wrong. When it's caused by a needle stick, the problem is much easier to manage. I believe the hospital is on top of things. She should be up and walking around soon enough. Again, all things considered, Marisa's spirits are pretty high.