Extubated

EXTUBATED! Who would have thought that word would mean so much to someone. 🙂 For us, it means one more step towards “normalcy”, whatever that is. Definitely a big day here. Some good, some bad, but lots of stuff going on, which is a big improvement over nothing happening all day!

Sure enough, after Eli woke up and was very alert, they decided to pull the tube. He was definitely scared, but made it through great. The Fellow was really happy with how it went. Of course then Eli needed to cough a lot and get what are called Chest PTs. Chest PT is a very nice way of saying “beat on his chest with an oxygen mask”. 🙂 They also have a bed setting that will shake him to do the same thing, which he prefers (slightly) over the nurse attacking him with a disconnected oxygen mask. They had to put an oxygen mask on him, but as of an hour ago, he had already graduated to an oxygen tube. Tomorrow he should be oxygen free! You should hear the mini “cheers” from the doctors and nurses that walk in and see him off of the respirator. It’s a nice sight to see, and not just for us as his parents.

The nurses were kind of surprised with how much he wanted to talk, despite my days of warnings. 🙂 It’s a squeaky voice for sure, but definitely music to our ears. His most common phrase: “No, I want Daddy to do it.” Something tells me I’m going to get an honorary nursing degree by the time this is all over.

The other “good” that happened was getting a nice pillow from Bed Bath & Beyond and a free dinner for the 4 of us adults from Barbara (our Candlelighters Manhattan Angel). She is so great. Leave it to her to know how much it stinks to use these rubbery hospital pillows. 🙂

The bad is that Adam and Jo left tonight to go back to their hotel and we won’t see them again for a while since their flight leaves in the morning. Having them here was such a blessing on so many levels. Having their company as well as the practical help was so great. Plus, it definitely lifted Eli’s spirits to see them, even if that was only expressed by more alertness when they were around and him mouthing “I love you too.”
The other bad is Eli’s high blood pressure (it’s BAAAACK). However, this should be treatable by resuming his normal blood pressure meds, which we started today. It’s already coming back down slightly, so this isn’t really a huge concern. I’m not sure exactly how much longer we’ll be in the PICU before the doctors feel like we can move back over to Memorial for observation, but it’s already starting to feel like progress is happening. (Update, by the end of this post a surgeon from Dr. LaQuaglia’s team came over and said he looked great and asked if they’d be sending him back over tomorrow. The nurse said they’d have to wait and see how he looked then, so at least that tells me they are thinking sooner as opposed to later.) They’ll want to get the wetness out of his lungs and make sure we’re out of the woods of his lung collapsing on its own or something, but so far there aren’t any major concerns of that happening. If so, we’d be hearing the word “INTUBATING”, which we don’t want. 🙂

I have uploaded some new pics. Hopefully they are much more encouraging to you all than the ones of him being so swollen. I think it was good for everyone to see how he was after surgery to be able to appreciate how much better he is doing now. We’re so appreciative of the prayers. My friend Todd thanked me for the updates tonight (as many people do), but as I told him, “It is the LEAST I can do in response to everyone who is so faithful to pray for him.” That, plus pray for you in return. Moving on to the next prayer request obviously means prayers for continued recovery so we can leave the Intensive Care Unit and get back to Memorial Sloan Kettering!

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