Post Op, Day 3

I walked in this morning, and William was just falling asleep. Billy stated that although last night's nurse was significantly below the typical standard, Will had had a good night...a restful night. Cool. He looks so much better this morning. I think we finally turned that corner that says, "I think we may survive this after all."

Dr. C, the neurosurgeon, ordered physical therapy for Will, so he was hooked up to portable monitors and walked around the unit a couple of times. His sense of humor, long absent, is slowly beginning to resurface. He pretended to wobble a couple of times and then grinned when the physical therapist went to grab him. He is far from his normal self, but an occasional glimmer of Will is encouraging. He also donned pajama pants and a t-shirt for his excursion, so ditching the lovely hospital gown I am sure makes him feel somewhat better.

Will has officially given up on talking with the trach which is difficult with no valve, is difficult. The energy required to do so is significant. So, he communicates with sign language and a white board. Some of his signs are entertaining. Yesterday he was asked a question and waved his arms around, which made zero sense to us, but it was really funny. I'm not so sure he appreciated our amusement. The white board is a huge benefit, though, because he can tell us what he needs/wants. But I must admit that it is extremely odd to be in a room with him and for there to be no chatter. All we hear in here is his humidifier, his cough, and the occasional noise outside. Silence is not a normal part of our lives!

Food remains an issue. He is totally not interested. No one is in a hurry to rush him, so for now, he is to remain on tpn and we will let him decide when he is ready to eat. A 14 yo boy will not long survive without a bacon cheeseburger, so I don't expect that the trail to Five Guys will grow too cold.

Will was running a healthy fever yesterday, so they did run some cultures. He does have an infection, but given that the surgery was in his mouth, that is so not surprising. They have started antibiotics and anticipate that the infection will resolve.

It is really difficult to remember all the things that transpire throughout the day, and I tend to write the updates after 8 pm, so hopefully you get the sense that progress is being made, but we are still far from home. We won't be moved out of ICU until at least Sunday, the trach will be in until at least Tuesday, and I imagine that we will have to stay til that is fully resolved which could be up to 7 days after it is removed. That puts us eerily close to Thanksgiving before being able to travel. Billy and my anniversary (25 years!) is the 23rd, so it looks like we may/may not even be in the same state then. While all of that is disheartening, it is with relief and joy that we can watch the progress and realize that this surgery, long dreaded, is officially behind us. So now we wait to see what effect it will have on his overall condition...