My fighter: 3 days out

You would think that after being the hospital for an entire year that it would be easy to wait just a few more days.  Easier said than done!  I do have a lot of patience for this, but it's hard to see Caleb groggy and uncomfortable and not quite himself.  I'm ready for this boy to laugh and play and run around in a  Batman costume.  Caleb hasn't been talking a whole lot and I miss his little personality.  The physical therapist told me that is normal... she said for Caleb to have a conversation feels like it would for us to try to have a conversation while running.  It's just easier not to talk much right now after open-heart surgery.  That made me feel better.  I know he's partly quiet too because this is an unfamiliar environment and it's hard to explain to him that it's just temporary.  He has asked several times to "go back to his room".  I tell him we will soon.  And if he only knew where we were going after the Heart Center... he has no idea what awaits him. :)

Caleb did perk up considerably when he had physical therapy this morning for the first time since surgery.  He loved it and did everything they asked.  He even got out of bed and got to walk around his room, and he went beyond what they asked of him and tried to step up on a stool and get up in a chair.  Such a fighter!  We got a little kiddie chair for him and he sat in his little chair and watched Beauty and the Beast until we had to make him eventually get back in bed for a dressing change.  Getting to move around loosened him up and gave me a glimpse of his recovery.  He'll get there!

The team said Caleb will be able to go back up to the Heart Center by Monday, just 5 days after his transplant.  I know that will help his mood so much to be somewhere familiar, with his nurses he loves so much.  Right now his biggest issue is retaining some fluid.  I asked for prayer for Caleb to pee in my last blog and guess what?  An hour after I posted that, he finally peed!  And then last night he had gone a while without peeing again and we decided we were just going to keep praying. We stopped and prayed for a big diaper so he wouldn't have to get a catheter... and literally TWO MINUTES after we boldly asked God to help him get this fluid off, he filled his diaper!  As my dad said yesterday, now it's like God is just showing off.  The more I simply remember to boldly pray over every detail of Caleb's recovery, the more I see God answer.

Today we are continuing to pray for his excess fluid to leave his body (more diapers, God!) and we are also praying for him to eat.  Whether or not Caleb eats will probably be the biggest factor determining when he can go home.  He has been on IV nutrition for so long that eating is not a big part of his life.  We are praying BOLDLY that God would give him a huge appetite and he would blow us all away with what he can eat.  

Perseverance!  We can do this!  It is stressful in the ICU and I just wish Caleb could skip this recovery part.  But God has as much purpose for THESE days as He does for the days ahead, and as He did for the days behind us.  I'm praying that He would give me the ability to focus on TODAY.  Because He made today and it is a gift!