Recovery Day 13...

and going strong! Ian got his JP drain removed today. He went to sleep for a nap, and while he was asleep, he got some medicine to help him sleep a bit and forget anything he might wake up for. Apparently, when that tube is pulled, it runs right across some of the main pain fibers for the belly, so it has the potential to be quite painful. Ian hardly moved when it was pulled. He seemed excited to have it gone when he did wake up, as it enables him to move about a bit more freely. He played trains on the floor to celebrate (yes, on a blanket!).

We also learned that he'll get a PIC line tomorrow, and when that happens, it will replace the one in his left arm and the central line in his neck can come out. He'll be down to just one tube, and that can come out when it is not needed so much anymore. It will enable him to have labs drawn without pain and, if needed, to receive medicine. After that, it'll be just a matter of a few days before we are discharged from the hospital.

I think the current plan is to leave the Mason Guest House, where Elaine, Peggy, and Livy are staying and move into the Ronald McDonald House, where we'll have a transplant suite. We didn't use the Ronald McDonald House before because it was possible that we would have had to pack everything up every day since our same spot wouldn't be guaranteed. That's not the case when we move into a transplant suite. It does mean, however, that no more than four people can stay there at a time, which will limit overnight visitors (not necessarily a bad thing). It will just take careful planning and good communication.

Ian is still awake at 11:15 pm, as I'm posting this, btw...

Ian walked all the way to his ultrasound this morning! By far the furthest he's walked since the operation. He even ran a bit, which surprised me. On the potty front, I think we made a little progress as he's decided the potty is okay again. He is laughing more and more, and he loves to tease... especially me! It makes it easy for me to stay with him when I am patient with him and he with me and we get along very well. He did decide to barf his medicines this evening after he received his first dose of bactrim. We got another round and he handled it well as we worked to disguise the bactrim. We used chocolate milk and Sprite, and tomorrow we'll try root beer and yogurt. He seemed encouraged that he was able to get and keep everything down. He got to love on his sister again lots today, who he has missed very much. It is interesting to see their bond already after just two months on earth.

As I think of more that happened today, I'll post or add to this post...