June: looking for silver linings...

June was an interesting month. It started off innocently enough with a family trip to the Durham Museum of Life & Science, where we saw a lot of cool quilts and a giant Blue Morpho butterfly landed on Jeff. We posted photos of the cool quilts (and much more) here.

Then I was off to an ill-fated trip to Verona Italy to give a talk at a meeting. While I was there I developed a sharp pain in my shoulder blade and was feeling easily winded. I chalked these things up to 1) carrying a too heavy bag around and 2) being out of shape. When I was feeling short of breath just sitting in my seat while flying home, I grew a little more concerned. Once home, I found myself getting winded going up one flight of stairs and having a worsening dry cough. Meanwhile, Jeff's parents and sister arrived for a week out at the coast on Bald Head Island. Everyone packed up Monday morning and I planned to join them on Wednesday. I went to my doctor that morning, who promptly sent me to the ER, on suspicion of a collapsed lung. I called Jeff with the bad news, went home and packed a bag and checked in to the ER, where I discovered that when a 40 year old woman comes in complaining of shortness of breath and shoulder blade pain, they think you're having a heart attack and they rocket you to a room (and even yell at each other about being too slow). Actual diagnosis: spontaneous pneumothorax (= collapsed lung for no apparent reason). Score  one for my primary care doctor.

I had a chest tube placed (which, by the way, is as painful as the final stage of childbirth, but without the cute baby afterward) and expected to be released in a day or two and spend the remainder of the week convalescing by the seaside. As it turned out, Jeff arrived that night and ended up spending the last free week before starting his internship at UNC hospital, with me, at UNC hospital. We were able to skype with Fiona every day, which helped. I ended up needing surgery - VATS pleurodesis - to ensure that my lung would stay inflated, and a few days later, Jeff went back to the beach to retrieve everyone and I was finally reunited with my baby!

One of the silver linings of all this was that Fiona was able to spend more time than she probably would have getting to know her Grandma & Grampa & Auntie Kim. She loved the beach and had a great time. It was also nice for Jeff & I to spend a lot of undistracted time talking and hanging out. Plus, he got to bug-bomb the attic...

The extended Cooneys all left town and the next day Jeff reported for his first day of orientation at the hospital. He and Fiona came to visit every day, with Fiona often helping to finish off my dinner tray. (I think her favorites were vegetable soup & banana pudding). I was finally released late the following wednesday. Thank you health insurance! I was sent home with the chest tube still in, connected to a heimlich valve (a one-way air tube). My surgeon assured me that this was not at all noticeable & no big deal. The instruction sheet I received from the nurse warned me that it might make the occasional honking sound as air escaped and the whole apparatus hung down to my knee, ending in a bloody fluid filled collecting jar. This left me wondering if the surgeon had ever seen an actual heimlich valve... Here is a nice photo found on the web that gives you a feel for it, although this lacks the second tube with collecting jar. Not at all noticeable, right? 

Jeff started his internship the day after I got home and we were very lucky that Jeff's mom was scheduled to come to town the next day. She drove me around, fed Fiona, carted her up and down the stairs and helped distract her from my off-limits tube apparatus. A lifesaver! The tube was finally removed a week later, and after going through some unexpected opiate withdrawal, I was as good as new. Better, actually, since my right lung is now uncollapsible. 

Forgive us, but we missed Fiona's monthly photos, but here's one of her goofing with grandma. We promise to resume the monthly chair photos next month.