Recovery- Day 4

Santi had an uneventful night last night. He and I both slept well, with few interruptions. X-ray arrived at 5am, Eeek! An hour and a half earlier than usual. Because Santi is in the last room in ICU, he's usually the last for things like X-Rays and rounds. His night nurse noticed air bubbles in his chest tube, so she requested his X-ray be first. There are some air pockets in his chest cavity, but they assured us it's nothing to worry about. 

How cool is his custom gown!

We spent more time standing, taking small steps and sitting up in a chair. Santi even got to go for a ride in the wagon to the playroom!​ It was a quick trip, but it was also Santi's first time out of his room post op. 

The most traumatic part of the day was the removal of his IJ, internal jugular central line. Abe and I both helped hold him down as they pulled the tape away and took out the line. It was awful. Santi was hysterical. Screaming, ​kicking, trying to twist and wiggle away. All while the nurses were using sharp scissors near his jugular to snip sutures. As if the tape pulling and suture snipping weren't enough, then we had to hold him down, 4 adults on 1 post op toddler, for 10 minutes while a nurse applied pressure to the incision. I don't ever want to do that again. 

Naptime 

We also saw a lot more smiles today, a lot more of our sweet Santi.  

And to top off a full day, we were transferred to CV Acute!! CV Acute is a step down from ICU. It's also the place you go, before you go home! Not that we're close to going home, but closer than we were yesterday.