News from Saturday:
Sue spent the night with Sam. His swelling is greatly reduced, but his belly is still out a little more than usual. Janna visited her little brother for the first time today. Sam was sleeping when we got there, so we left him alone and all headed to the playroom down the hall. After about 15 minutes of listening to Janna bang on the little baby grand piano (that sounded like a harpsichord), I decided to check on Sam. Much to my delight, he was up and had just had his chest tube removed and all his IV stuff disconnected. He is now down to three sticky electrodes on his skin, the pulse oximeter on his toe and a heplock on his opposite ankle, should he need any IV drugs again. The doctor said he was doing the best that they could have hoped for and may be ready to go home on Sunday, but I'm guessing Monday is more likely. They moved him out of the Intermediate Care Facility to a general room on the floor since he won't be needing as much nursing attention.
Sam is alert, feeding, playing, smiling-- all the usual stuff. The incision on his chest is about 2" long and looks good, according to those that know what "good" looks like. He also has three holes below that, each closed with 1-2 stitches. Evidently, one was for laproscopic aid during surgery and the other two were from drain lines. All will fade to near invisibility over a few years.