Dr. Amy gets to be the favorite one forever

 

Because she let him EAT!!!!! 

 Okay, so she just happened to be the one on service when he was finally deemed ready to eat, but still, she is going to get the credit.  Along with Dr. Cisco I guess.  This has been too long coming. 

 This picture makes me so happy because his silly little personality is shining through.  If only a giant bowl of mac and cheese could make him so deliriously happy from now on. 

Backing up to yesterday, the change in him after losing that final chest tube has been enormous.  Almost immediately, he got himself into this position.  He has been more or less unwilling to use his core muscles for anything since surgery, and I think it is safe to assume the chest tubes are the culprits.  From what I am told, they are the pits.  (massive understatement)

 He even felt motivated to sit up and work a little on his new firetruck Lego set from Jason's high school friend, Nan.  She came just after the tube was removed and he was so jazzed and ready to go.

 Today he started out pretty hesitant and cranky.  He sleeps pretty well at night and so last night we tried out a new sleeping plan.  We figured I could walk to RonDon easily enough around 8 and then J would drive there around midnight.  I would drive over around 5 and J would walk over when he woke up.  And even if Tiernan did have a hard time, they could call us and one of us could get there in under 10 minutes, door to door.  So we took the risk and it worked out.  His CVICU nurses are so wonderful, and he is not anxious, so they say. 
But by the time I got there, X-ray was only just arriving, so at that point he refused to go back to sleep.  And he was demanding his water ration.  He blew through that in no time, and was mad for the rest of the time.  I negotiated more from Nurse Courtney.  She was an easy sell, since to her his lips and tongue looked dry.  Not cool. 
By the time rounds rolled around, we were prepping him for another walk, and he was not pleased.  The docs all agreed that the time was at hand for keeping him on high flow for the day and allowing him to eat and see how he would tolerate it.  So we promptly ordered up The First Meal, and went off on a walk.  He PR'd by more than doubling yesterday's walking distance.  (FYI, I waaaay underestimated yesterday's accomplishment.  He actually walked about 75 or 80 feet)  Then we let him sit in the chair and wheel around the outer halls. 

 As you can see, he finds the wheelchair quite comfy. 

 

 

There really is not a lot more to report that trumps the above news.  This is an enormous step towards the 3rd floor. 

They have also d/c'd the Milrinone and replaced it with Enalapril.  His Propranolol is still doing it's job and all those numbers look great. 

They did switch out the Lasix with Bumex (Bumetadine). They felt he was maybe developing a bit too much tolerance of the Lasix. 

I do find myself wondering how we will get him potty trained again, though.

 

He had his official post-op echo today, so I'll be eager to hear what they say about that. 

 

In the meantime, I have been fortunate enough to connect with a few other heart moms, Sally and Lani.  It is beyond wonderful to have someone to talk with about the emotions and everything surrounding this experience.  (In addition to Jason, of course.) And so, last night Lani and I went out for a drink and dinner.  We got a recommendation for a good Mexican place here that has Mariachi on Fridays.  Great! Or so we thought, BEFORE we actually thought it through.  hahaahah.  

 

Not really conducive to conversations.  They were really loud.  Really.  Loud.