A Soggy Bowl of Rice Krispy Treats

         A couple days after we got home from Denver we had an appointment with our pediatrician for a general check up after Mason’s procedure.  We went into the appointment feeling really positive about what we had accomplished in Denver and ready to share all the information with her. We were NOT prepared for what was about to happen. As we were filling her in she was examining Mason and he was all smiles like usual when all of a sudden we saw that “look” on her face, you know the look doctors get during an exam that immediately tells you something isn’t right. She asked us if we had noticed anything strange with Mason’s side, we had not. She then told us to feel his side, as Jonathan so eloquently put it “feels like a soggy bowl of rice Krispy treats”, and it did feel just like that…and it was gross. She sent us immediately over to our pediatric pulmonologist because she was fearful it was an air leak. He took one listen/look and was on the phone to Denver. Within the hour we were on our way to be admitted to the hospital; Mason had a pneumothorax, x-rays confirmed.  A pneumothorax is a build up of air inside the chest cavity between the lung and ribs, it is typically the result of an air leak and causes the lung to become partially collapsed…the last think a kid with a lung disease needs.  It is likely that Mason’s air leak developed at one of his biopsy sites.

            As we were making ourselves at home in the hospital we got a LOT of visitors in the form of nurses, medical students etc.  It turns out Mason’s pneumothorax was pretty large and most people had never seen, heard or felt one. Everyone was very nice about asking and Mason was more than happy to lift up his shirt and show his belly. I figured if we are going to be in the hospital we might as well let people learn from our little man! It was decided that we were going to try and “flush” out the air. Mason was put on 5L pure oxygen via mask. The thought is that the pure oxygen will wash out the pneumothorax by causing it to be reabsorbed by the body.  Technically there is no scientific “proof” that this works however it is less invasive than a chest tube. The plan was to push the O2 and have daily x-ray to make sure it wasn’t growing.  While doing this plan Mason was put on NPO (no food or drink) in case he were to need an emergency chest tube. 

           After two days of no progress and Mason getting nothing but IV fluids he was reevaluated and it was determined he needed a chest tube. Within minutes of being told his pneumothorax was “dangerously large” we were heading down for emergency surgery. At this point Mason has had several procedures including a lung biopsy so you would think I would be a little bit more seasoned at this. I’ll chalk it up to the fact that it was “emergency”, unplanned and very rushed. Whatever the reason, this procedure was hard on me and seeing him come out with the chest tube draining from his tiny little body was even worse.  They say a “leak” is a possible complication of a lung biopsy however it’s rare. Well I should have known better, Mason is all about rare! Good thing he is SO much stronger than I am AND good thing I have my wonderfully amazing husband, his parents, my sis-in law and brother in-law, my parents and many other friends and family. They say “it takes a tribe to raise a child” and man o man do I have a strong tribe!!! Mason had the chest tube in for four days before the leak had stopped and the pneumothorax was gone. Every single doctor, nurse and tech that came to our room commented on how amazed they were with Mason. They said they have A) never seen a child so young with a chest tube B) all the adults they see lay in bed and can barely move, Mason was all over the place smiling and laughing. We followed him around with the oxygen and chest tube box and it was a job because he did not slow down. Mason is a trooper! After a little over a week in the hospital we were on our way home with that little complication behind us. Our little Mason man is doing awesome and all that remains from all the procedures, lung biopsy and pneumothorax is three little scars on his side and most importantly A DIAGNOSIS!