Saturday morning update

Sorry for the lack of communication Saturday. All of the progress was quiet and our visits with Luke in the ICU were short. Compared to previous hospital stays, he is requiring a lot of alone time; due in part to the visitor restrictions in ICU as well as his insatiable need for sleep/rest. That being said, his "fan club" seems to overtake every waiting room in our path and we are getting pretty good at rotating visitors through his room in 5 minute intervals; as tolerated.

Brian, Andrew & Charlie Wood

Gma/Gpa Bateman, Uncle Jeff & Aunt Carman

Mom & Dad

Kirk & Alex

Gma/Gpa Brown

In contrast to Thursday's fast and furious flow of information, Friday's updates were much fewer and farther between. Overall, Luke did very well, especially considering what his body was put through during surgery. Yesterday was a lot of sleeping, and when possible, he got out of bed and sat in a chair for however long he could endure. The Occupational Therapist came by Friday morning and helped him with a few things, including brushing his teeth.

When we planned this surgery some months ago, we knew that it was going to fall on graduation week. One of the many frustrations for Luke, was knowing that he was going to miss the RHS graduation of his friends. Last night, while in the waiting room, we were able to watch a live video feed of the graduation and we got to chat with Luke's best friend Cole afterward. I brought the phone into Luke's room, woke him up, he opened his eyes a little, gave Cole the "I love you" sign then closed his eyes to rest. That's when the waterworks started for Dad.

Cole @ graduation

While I was talking with Cole, Luke's cardiologist (Dr. Liang) came to see him and reported to me that Luke looks GREAT and was very pleased with what he saw. This doctor has a great attitude along with a wonderful sense of humor, and when I asked him for more details, he simply said "Luke looks great; they (nurses/surgeons) worry too much about the numbers, but just look at him. He is doing great"...............That was wonderful to hear.
The night ended quietly with everyone having a chance to say goodnight to Luke, then all of us tried to get some well needed rest; especially Luke.



Even though visiting hours don't start until 9am in the ICU, I've managed to get in early the last two mornings to see Luke before the nurse shift change. This morning he told his nurse that he wanted to sleep a bit more and that he was not ready to get out of bed this early. He looked great and he was partially awake for my short visit. He received a visit while I was there from the attending doctor and he too was pleased with everything. They have reduced or discontinued nearly all of his IV meds and the nurse removed the dressing from his incision this morning (it looks great!). He was not feeling nauseous or throwing up overnight and he has tolerated water & diet Sprite (that's all he gets right now). They plan to slowly start him on a full liquid diet today and their goal is to get him out of ICU by tonight.

More as the day progresses.

Thank you again for all of the support.

KAAL

Revelation 7:12

"Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen."