Like a Boss

Tuesday he was flat on his back for ~6 hours, chest sliced open, a machine was breathing for him and pumping all his blood for him.  They patched his heart like a bicycle tire, added some stuff from a corpse, and took out the one item that had kept him alive this long.

Here's a photo sequence of what he was doing on Saturday...

I used to think open-heart surgery was a big deal...

Surgery Day +4 - 1230

Everybody is home, prayers answered.

Surgery Day +3 - 1600

More tests, everything is looking good.  His heart has a few sounds that most "normal" hearts don't have (a gallop and a rub).  This isn't alarming on account that he doesn't have a normal heart, he has a repaired heart.  So anyway, as long as he continues as he is I think we'll be going home tomorrow.

He's spent most of the day today walking up and down the halls and riding the various toys that they keep here.  It's strange to walk more than 10ft with him and not hear him breathing hard.

Now he's napping because he's all wore out.

Surgery Day +3 - 1100

I came back to the hospital this morning to find Jacob sitting is mommy's lap with zero wires connecting him to outside machinery.  He still has 2 IV's in but otherwise is fully disconnected.

He's been eating and drinking, we walked around a bit and he's been watching TV with us.  He's a little clingy and cranky which I think is mostly just a function of the fact that he's done being poked and prodded.  Getting him home will do a world of good.

Speaking of, it looks like we will come home tomorrow in all likelihood with a slim possibility of going home today.  Tuesday his chest was spread wide open and foreign objects were in his heart, by Friday we're talking about going home - truly a wonder.

This is what I walked into this morning.  No wires!!

We were walking down to the cars.  We took a little ride around the floor.

844 > 843

Today was also a very special day for another reason.  Today, Joshua has been a Shanks for 844 days.  When we got him he was 843 days old.  Which means (for all of you who are slow with numbers) that as of today, Joshua has been a Shanks for over half his life.

A few days after we got him.

A couple weeks ago.  See a difference?

 

Surgery Day +2 - 2000

Jacob is doing better and better.  He's been a bit more grumpy but I think that's the drugs, discomfort, and tiredness working.  He stood up once and this evening he got the chest drain tubes removed.  Everybody keeps saying how well he's doing and are giving us optimism that we'll be able to bring him home sooner than later.

I came home this afternoon.  It was nice to see the kids and spend some time with them and my mom.  I'm now looking forward to a shower and my own bed.

Surgery Day +2 - 1100

Jacob is out of the ICU and into a regular room!  They continue to pull more tubes and items off/out of him - he now has only 6 items in/on him.  He's still very lethargic but I guess that's another way of saying that he's resting a lot.  Either way you slice it he's doing well and the fact that they moved us down here is indicative the everyone agrees that he's progressing.

Heather slept at home last night.  I slept in a chair in the waiting room this morning after she got here - it was like camping sans the hot-dogs.  Many nights spent on offshore dive boats, lay barges, and platforms have prepared me well for this experience.

Finally grabbed a few pics, you can see a clear improvement over time.
 

This is what he looked like when we first saw him after surgery.

Jacob getting a drink yesterday by sucking it out of a sponge.  He could only have 1oz of water so  using the sponge prolonged the activity, otherwise he drank it in 1sec and started looking for more.

Heather and Jacob taking selfies yesterday afternoon.

Resting is our new room.