Day 1

After a very long day, Nate finally got settled into the ICU around 11:30 last night. Dr. Lambert warned us that he wasn't going to look very good, and that he was very 'puffy'. During the procedure, he received 23 liters of fluid! When we finally got to see him, I thought he looked great! He was a little 'puffy', but compared to how he looked after his February surgery, I thought he looked like Captain America!

He had a pretty good night, and stayed under sedation for the majority of the night. At 6:00 a.m., they started to lighten his meds to see how he would do breathing more on his own and he woke right up and started breathing over the ventilator. They took the tube out and Nate's been on room air all day! The doctors were all impressed that they could extubate him so soon (after he'd had so much fluid during the procedure and it can cause a lot of swelling in the airway), and that he didn't need any oxygen to keep his levels up. His color is also really good! Dr. Lambert was impressed with his progress. They even moved him from the bed right in front of the nurse's station to a new room in the very back of the ICU!

We got him up to sitting position in a chair and he was able to stay there for almost two hours. His pain increased quite a bit after that so they just upped his epidural pain meds. He seems more comfortable now.

If all continues to go well, he'll probably move to the Oncology floor on Friday and get to have some clear liquids on Saturday. It's back to baby steps for his recovery, and it's hard to be patient, but I think he's doing an amazing job!

Thanks again for all the prayers and faith. We feel your love from all the way across the country, and we hope you can feel ours too.