We are out of the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) and Ben is doing much better. His breathing and other vitals stabilized. His swelling really peaked today and he was awake but couldn't open his eyes. This made him really fussy and irritable, but he slept through most of the day. They are still keeping him pretty heavily medicated. He has no tubes or wires except for oxygen. He also still has the direct IV into his chest for the nurses to administer medication and draw for blood tests.
Dr. Sami and his wife visited and brought us flowers and a whole bag of toys. They could not be a sweeter couple. We have tried to take turns holding Ben upright and propping his bed up as much as we can and this has helped reduce the swelling enough that his eyes have opened a few times. The picture is of him this evening and (believe it or not) he really looks a lot better than he did earlier today.
I am relieved that the swelling has peaked and I hope his pain will be easy to manage and medicate as he becomes increasingly mobile in the next day or two. We will be going home either Monday or Tuesday as far as they can tell.
Thank you all for the kind emails and comments. Sorry I haven't been able to respond to everyone, but I really appreciate your thoughts. We're almost through this.
yeah for progress
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