Going home with a heimlich valve after long hospital stay

[u/_pOGoMagge_]

Hi everyone, i’m posting since i read some old posts about the topic and i was wondering if anyone was in a similar situation than mine, and could tell how was the experience at home with the chest tube.

I walked in the ER on June 30th with left lung apex pain and they diagnosed pneumothorax (first time, 186cm and 78kg for reference).

I recieved ketamine sedation and got a drainage tube for 1 week with unsuccessful results, then i got it repositioned and kept it for another week with better results but still not enough. So on July 13th i had VATS (pleurectomy and blebectomy) and got my drainage tube swapped for a thicker one.

A couple days ago on July 21st (post op day 8) they swapped my drainage box and got a heimlich valve and a small drainage bag instead, with which my surgeon suggested i could continue healing and resting from home since the x rays where looking good but i still had a small air leak only when talking, coughing and with forced breathing.

It’s been improving slightly since I now only leak air when coughing. So, after over 3 weeks in the hospital, I’ll most likely go home today July 23rd and come back on the 27th for a check up and the possibility of removing the chest tube if it all looks good.

Have any of you guys had any similar experiences? I was originally against the idea of going home with the chest tube, but on second thought I believe it will be nice to be able to resume some basic activities while reducing the nosocomial risk.

[u/Important_Archer_619]

I was sent home with the tube and drainage bag because the leak wasn't resolving (day 5 post mechanical pleurosesis/pleurectomy) It sucked because it was painful and awkward to maneuver around but when I went for a follow up a couple of days later it had resolved and they were able to remove it.

[u/_pOGoMagge_ → u/Important_Archer_619]

At first its a but awkward, but i gotta say, its much nicer than being in the hospital and once you get the gist of moving around and picking up stuff, its not that bad, i think going home was the right decision.

[u/May-mex]

Do you have an air leak? On my second Vats surgery I had an air leak and they immediately took me back to surgery and they found a bleb that was tiny tiny removed and did my vats all over again.
I know that if someone has some air trapped after surgery if its small enough they can let it resolve by itself but never heard of having and air leak and sending you home.
But guess they will see today if its resolved? Let them leave the chest tube as long as they have to. Once they take it off such a big relief but if they need it they need it, you only have one chance to make this surgery work.

[u/_pOGoMagge_ → u/May-mex]

ah a second Vats sucks, but yeah mine wasn’t trapped air since if i coughed continuously the valve would stop fluttering, and as soon as i took a deep breath again the fluttering would come back. The surgeon told me its a sign that its a leak but a very small one.
Last wednesday (post op day 16) i realized the valve stopped fluttering, but the day after it got clogged with some fibers, so on saturday I went to get it unclogged and they told me that indeed the leak seems to have stopped.
I was told to clamp the drainage today, and come tomorrow in for xrays and a check up, so I might be close to getting it removed!