Nathan is starting to resemble the little boy in the pictures taped to his hospital bed. His feet look and feel great, and most of the swelling in his neck is gone. Unfortunately, his tolerance to the sedatives is very noticeable. He was awake and alert for long stretches yesterday with Christa, and last night when I visited. She read from his books and he responded well. He became visibly frustrated and upset last night with all of the nurses doing their thing and me not being able to pick him up. They had to give him a new sedative (ketamine) to calm him down for the evening. I can't begin to describe how wrenching it is to see your child in that state of fear/anguish/frustration and not be able to do anything about it. I'm grateful that he won't remember most (if anything) of what he's been through.
We were surprised this morning when we called to check on his status and were informed that they were taking him off the ventilator early today. The tube was removed before 10am and he is doing fine. They still have a mask on him to provide oxygen if he needs it, but they say he's breathing great. Christa went to Alyssa's kindergarten orientation this morning, so she is getting into the hospital around noon. I'm looking forward to hearing back from her on his progress. I think the coming weeks are going to be difficult as Nathan comes to understand his situation, as well as the time it will take to ween him off the drugs. If all goes well (and I'm not basing this on anything but pure optimism), perhaps he will be home with us by next weekend.
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