she's doing well

So I met with Dr. Park after they finished the bronchoscopy. It took about two hours all told, and he was happy with the results. He said that mucuous and necrotic material had built up in the stent, so it definitely was not functioning properly. Because the stent failed to function, the entire lung collapsed, thus severely disrupting Mom's breathing. He said they used full anesthesia during the surgery although they had planned to use partial, but now in recovery, she was breathing on her own (i.e. without a breathing tube).  

Park wants to send Mom home from the hospital with something called a nebulizer, which she can have every 4 hours, and is a means of keeping the airway free of muck (aren't I technical?). There was mention of this the last time she was in the hospital but in the end we were sent home nebulizerless, so this time we will jump up and down.  

She'll spend the night tonight in recovery. She's doing well and is in good spirits - also talking more, which means she's breathing easier. Grandpa and Jennifer came back to the hospital from Brooklyn after I talked to Jenn, mid-bronchoscopy, and she realized that I was a bit wonky on my own there (I didn't actually tell her - she heard something in my voice.  Gotta love siblings). When they arrived at the hospital, the three of us found a local pub, had a beer and a bite, then came back to the hospital to visit with Mom in recovery. From the time I talked to Park to the time we saw Mom, it was about 90 minutes or so. She's in good hands in recovery, and will be back in her own room tomorrow morning, we think.

Hopefully she'll be back home to her house before the end of the week.