Mason is so close to getting his chest tubes out, and the word "home" was even mentioned the other day, but after a very active day yesterday his draining actually picked back up. So we continue to sit and wait patiently. All the while Mason is turning into a wild man in his crib - especially after last night. He may actually pull the tubes out himself!

Mamma left this morning to go back to Kansas but Granny is flying in today to take her place and help out with Mia. Fortunately for her today is our day off at the Ronald McDonald House. So no chores for Granny today! : ) We hope everything is going well back home. Mason is watching Handy Manny in his crib as we type and talking up a storm. Hopefully the baby next to us is able to sleep through this!

Getting better

Mason continues to get better. At this point he is definitely back to being himself. Which includes melting down any time a doctor or nurse comes around. Needless to say his blood pressure is high anytime they try to take it so mom and dad have stepped in to help out. We are earning honorary nursing degrees as we go through this.

He loves getting out for walks and stroller rides. I think the hospital loves seeing him walk around too because he is so animated. The kid loves exit signs and will point each one out and say "exit sign". He also enjoys the automatic sliding glass doors next to the elevators. He gets so excited when they open up. He does what we like to call the happy feet dance. The walking also helps with his chest tube drainage, which continues to slow down. We are getting close to getting those tubes out. Fingers crossed!

Mason is continuing to get better and as you can see he is up and walking around. He would probably take off running if we let him. We are taking him out for a walk and/or stroller ride a couple times a day. Or as we call it "exit sign world tours" as the kid loves exit signs. His rash is getting better too but its still there and bothering him. All in all he is doing really well. It's great to be able to get him out and about. It helps with both his and our spirits. Now we just need his chest tubes to quit draining before we can go home. It's a waiting game at this point.
Thanks for the continued prayers and support. We feel the love in Ann Arbor.

Out of the ICU!

Mason is out of the ICU! He got his orders to move to the general floor this afternoon. His left lung continues to get stronger and as of this evening his nose is canula free. Hopefully it stays that way. The plan from here forward is to get him stronger and ultimately for the fluid draining from his chest tubes to come to a complete stop. We can't go home until that happens. Unfortunately each kid is different and the draining could last anywhere from days to weeks. They won't pull his chest tubes until he has stopped draining for 24 hours. We don't know if this means anything or not but he isn't draining as much as you would typically see at this point.

One other thing we haven't really discussed is that he has had a bad allergic reaction to something topical. Whether it be the tape they are using for his bandages or the ointments they are using, whatever it is his chest looks horrible. Tonight they put a burn shirt on him to keep him from itching it. Poor kid can't catch a break. He is talking more today and even though papa won't read this he keeps saying he is "papa's boy".

Busy Sunday

Another good night and another good xray this morning. All of this will be followed by what will be a very busy day. They plan to take him off all of his sedation meds today, start feeding him in his stomach (he took care of this himself as you can see above), start him back up on his blood pressure medication, start him back up on his Viagra, and ween him off of the hi flow machine as much as he allows. He is much more alert today and has said a few words. The first being "cheese" after mommy asked him if he was hungry. He is watching tv right as we post this. Let's hope the rest of the day goes as smoothly.

Saturday Update

So far today has been a better day over yesterday. Mason is much more comfortable and is waking up more. Unfortunately his left lung is down even more over yesterday but as long as he holds where he is at he won't need to be reintubated. The plan for today is rest, lots of chest poundings to loosen up junk in his lungs, bringing him down on pain/sedition meds, and removing some of the lines he does not need anymore. It may be baby steps but at least he is moving in the right direction.

Up and down day

Mason is still off the vent but he is needing more assistance than we would like when it comes to breathing. This afternoon they had to put him on a hi-flow machine to get his oxygen levels up. He continues to be on hi-flow as of this evening and will most likely be on it well into tomorrow. He is resting comfortably which is good because mom and dad are not. Hopefully he has another good night an even better tomorrow. We will keep you updated.