About 36 hours after surgery, the warrior came off his vent, onto a nasal cannula. He seemed comfortable, a bit puffy from all the fluids and the trauma of surgery. His nurses complimented us on his hair and on his fighting spirit. Both were clearly related, in my mind! The hours passed slowly as I sat by his bed, touching him now and then, relieved he seemed in no pain. He did start having issues later on day 3 with his chest tube, signs of discomfort and breathing issues. They increased his pain meds but that didn’t help. His surgical team came by and assessed him and decided that the chest tube could come out in the morning if he was stable enough. And the morning of day 4 his chest tube was removed with almost immediate improvement! The Ginger warrior was ready to handle things himself!
The Ginger Warrior 