Graduation Day!

Today, we graduated to the third floor into a regular pediatric unit, no ICU! This morning when we went into the CVICU, Caden had done really well overnight. The surgeons took out the line into his chest and he got his arterial line out. That left him with only one peripheral IV remaining in his left foot. Other than that, the only lines he still has on him are oxygen through the nasal cannula, an oxygen sensor, and respiration and heart monitors. It's amazing!

During rounds, one of the nurse practitioners from the third floor came in order to find out about Caden's history before he moved up. She said they didn't have any beds available, but maybe later today or possibly tomorrow. So we would just have to wait. He was ready, it was just a matter of bed space at this point. About 20-30 minutes later, we were told that he was moving “now.” I guess there was a patient on third floor who needed to be moved into the CVICU so they were going to trade places. The timing worked well for us. However, “now” really meant about three hours later.

Caden was temporarily moved into a treatment room (aka: storage closet) while a baby from another spot in CVICU was moved into Caden's old spot. Then the patient from third floor was moved into the newly vacated bed spot in CVICU, leaving the bed available on third floor. It was truly a game of musical beds. We were just happy it all worked out for him to get moved today. We really feel this last stretch won't last long and that he will be ready to go home in no time. The doctors are saying probably the end of next week. We are hoping for middle of the week, but we will see what Caden's timetable is.

Right now, they will be working on weaning him off the last little bit of oxygen he's on. And, they will be weighing him daily to make sure he is steadily gaining weight. And, the last thing they will be looking for is for him to be balanced on all of his meds, particularly his diuretics. So, once all those things are accomplished, he should be good to go. Of course, during his time in this unit, we will be educated on how to administer his meds and how to use/clean the g-tube. It really shouldn't be too difficult for us to master this, just a matter of being told how. We are so excited for the progress today. It truly won't be long now.