Quite a bit has happened since I last sent an update. I'll try to hit the main points and keep it short. During the night, they decided to take out the two remaining chest tubes. They also removed the catheter. In addition they removed the IV lines. This means that the chest was fairly dry. There is still a danger of fluid near the lungs so he will be on a diuretic for upwards of several months. Removing the IV lines means that they are fairly confident that he will drink enough to keep from dehydrating. Now that the chest tubes are out, they are able to think about reducing his O2. Well, they would have been except as they walked into the room on rounds, he grabbed the O2 hose and ripped it off of his face. Did I mention it was tapped on both cheeks? They decided to go with it and are going to monitor his numbers for a few hours and see how he does without O2. Since he was high 60's and low 70's at home pre-surgery, they figured as long as he was 70 he would be OK. This number should go up over the next few weeks to months. Well, right now, he is sitting in Dede's lap watching Finding Nemo and his numbers are around 77. With no O2. We were even able to give him a sponge bath. If that keeps up, he won't need O2. If that dips, he will have to go back on the O2.
Since he is doing so well, they are planning on kicking us out of CICU today and sending us up to the 8th floor where general recovery is. We do not have a timetable for discharge at this point. They are still watching some things and are still tweaking how much of each med to give. He will be on a restricted low fat diet for six weeks. We just got instructions on that. Fortunately, many of the things she suggested we do, we already do. Although, as Wisconsinites, watching the cheese intake will be a challenge!
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