The Short, Non-Technical Version

I have a lot to write about, but I feel like I'm about to fall asleep while typing. For now I'll give the short version, then I'll follow up with a longer post tomorrow.

The news wasn't all bad, and wasn't all good. They think they have an idea of what's going on, at least for the short term, and they're trying a few low-tech options that may or may not help. This mostly involves positioning Andrew on his side in such a way that the 'good' lung can expand while the other one collapses a bit. It should take a couple of days to show some improvement...if that happens, we'll know we're on the right track and there might be a solution to his recent problems. If the low-tech solution doesn't work as intended, they can try a few other options. If everything works correctly but he doesn't show any improvement, they'll have to keep thinking. For now, he's stable and comfortable with his sedation.....that will probably continue for the next few days at least.

I'm very relieved by our conversation with the doctor for a few reasons:

1. Though his anatomy is obviously not normal and will require time and patience to improve, the scans didn't reveal anything that was awful and irreversible.
2. I feel like we've been at a really uncertain point during the last week, essentially 'paused' with no plan of attack. Now they at least have some new ideas and a plan of action.
3. We were worried about them jumping to (awful) conclusions, and I'm now confident that they still have hope and ideas and a will to succeed.

We also talked about some of the potential difficulties Andrew could face, including some that would prevent him from having a normal life and others that would prevent him from surviving at all. Though these are very real possibilities, we're not at that point yet and there are still plenty of good possibilities as well.