It got better :)

When I called Joe this morning, he sounded happier than I have heard him since Emmett's surgery. At 3 o'clock in the morning, they had to move E to the step-down floor due to bed space issues. We went from a loud, bright, crowded 7-bed room that can only be compared to a casino to a dark, cozy little room with just one other roommate. Joe said that as soon as they got him out of the ICU (not even to his new room yet), he fell asleep and dozed for hours. Sleep has been one of the biggest issues here. Since he is such a light sleeper, he had only been able to sleep about 6 hours total the previous two days. He was exhausted and frustrated...the move today was a HUGE step towards recovery.

There is still one underlying medical issue. He has a small pneumothorax (collapsed lung) that isn't going away. They have taken chest x-rays everyday to monitor it, but there has been no improvement. They thought the chest tube would basically suction out the air pocket that has formed, but after several days, it hadn't. The surgical residents/fellows came by and said they were going to leave the chest tube in again today. Joe and I didn't agree with that decision. Granted, the alternative isn't great. If the pocket grows, they will have to go back in with another chest tube to correct it, but it seemed to us that the chest tube he had in wasn't doing its job anyway, so why not be a little proactive? I don't think the team agreed, but as luck would have it, Joe ran into Dr. Hanley (his surgeon) on the elevator on his way out this morning (we have NEVER just "run into" Dr. Hanley). He asked Joe about E, Joe explained that the tube was still in, Dr. Hanley looked surprised that it was, and lo and behold, two hours later the tube was out. Ahhh, the power that man yields :) We love him!!!

They repeated the x-ray. The pneumothorax is still there, but it didn't get any bigger. So the current plan is to take another x-ray tomorrow and they will make a decision about our next step from there. They are putting him on oxygen tonight to help the process along. For the time being though, he is so much happier. I got to take him for a wagon ride around the floor today (about 50 laps) and when Joe got there, we went to the playroom. It's amazing how choo-choos, blocks and cars can lift a 2 year old's spirits. Here are a couple pictures of some happy moments from the last two days.

And, by the way, a big shout out to E's team of nurses, doctors, PAs, RTs, and surgeons from the CVICU. They took great care of him and we wouldn't be this close to going home without them. A shout out also to E's amazing nurse, Christine, at 3 West today, who actually brought me a piece of her lasagna and a soda when she noticed I hadn't eaten anything by 3 o'clock today. Let's just say Emmett is a handful now that he's awake! It's totally worth it though, after 6 days of waiting, we finally got hugs today and even a couple small smiles...our little guy is getting back to his old self.

Hugs and kisses from Big, Bad E!