I didn't sleep well last night, which is nothing new here in the hospital. Often times, I can't sleep because I can't stop praying long enough to rest my mind. Sometimes I'm praising and thanking God for answered prayers, for signs of improvement. Other times I'm anxious, scared, and praying for healing, for Eric's safe-keeping. Last night was the later. After watching him struggle with shortness of breath all weekend, I anticipated a whole new set of issues this morning when Dr. Thompson came in.

Not surprisingly, Eric's morning chest X-ray showed what appeared to be a worsening pneumothorax (air outside the lung) in the right upper lobe. And the left didn't look much better. Dr. Thompson desperately wanted to take Eric to CT scan. Because of the chest tubes needing to be constantly attached to suction, we couldn't just go, but had to borrow portable suction set-ups from a local ambulance service. The trip to CT went without a hitch. And Eric was thrilled just to get out of this ICU room, if only for a short time.

Getting this CT scan has proved to be pivotal in Eric's care. Instead of the pneumothoraxes the Dr. expected to see, it seems that the air in the right upper lobe is actually huge blebs, which are large air sacs caused by destroyed lung tissue. Nothing is definite yet, but the preliminary plan is to do surgery to take out this destroyed lung tissue so the rest of the lung can expand.

Again, we're reminded, we are on a long road. Eric continues to be frustrated and depressed. He just wants to get better. Please pray for patience and wisdom for the doctors.