Are We Leaving the ICU??

Noah was doing much better today. He looked good and his pressures were good. He wasn't having such a hard time breathing and he hasn't had any ectopy (weird heart rhythms) in a few days. His lungs are still damaged but they are getting better. Since they were so damaged with having a bad heart for so long which caused the Pulmonary Hypertension and Edema and then they were even more damaged after the transfusion reaction, the Dr said it will be a long time before they ever look normal, if they ever do. She doesn't know what if any long term damage will be there but she doesn't suspect it will be too bad. But it is reasonable to say he will always have weaker lungs than a normal person his age.

They have weened him off one of the blood pressure medicines so they kept his ART line in to continue monitoring his blood pressure more accurately than a cuff but since it was been good today, they will remove it tomorrow. They also said it's very likely he will be moved upstairs to the regular inpatient rooms and out of the ICU tomorrow. It's good to know he's getting better enough to be out of the ICU, upsetting because I know he won't have such one on one care that he gets in the ICU, and scary because I don't know if I dare believe this will be the last time we are in the ICU. I just don't want the Dr's to rush his recovery. I know he will recover, but Noah has already proven to be stubborn and difficult just like me. He will get better on his own terms and his own time frame. If they rush him too fast, he might backslide again. So I just hope this time its for good. His NG tube is still past his stomach and going into his intestines, so one thing we will have to work on for sure is his feedings. I just hope we can get that under control before they say we need to switch to a G tube (where it goes right into his stomach isn't of up his nose and down his throat). Like the poor kid doesn't have enough scars already! They have such a hard time getting veins for PICCs and IV's that he is poked all over his body with bruises and marks and they still come up empty handed. Not to mention his transplant scars, the drainage tube scars and his pig tail scar (the chest tube for his collapsed lung). But one good thing about him having them now, he will learn about them just like any little kid learns where their belly button is.