Day 1 Post-Op #1

A sweet smile! 

We've had such a big day already! After an early morning x-ray, Koalton moved to a chair to sit up and watch some cartoons. Then he got to take a short walk down the hall to find a toy in the toy chest! He ate a little breakfast and we played a few games of Candy Land as well.  He kicked my butt all three times...I think he was cheating! Haha!

After some games and some time with the iPad, the nurses removed his chest tubes and he had another x-ray.  The chest tube removal is so hard to watch, as it's so painful for the patient and even a bit gory if you're squeamish. He seems to be feeling better now after a dose of pain meds and a good nap, and our sweet nurse assured me he won't remember a thing about the removal.

Around noon we got to move to the regular cardiac floor!!!! (Again, when the expectation is that you'll stay in ICU 3-4 days, moving the morning after surgery is AMAZING!) And, a HUGE bonus is that we're in a private room (there are only 2 on the entire floor). Yaaahooooo!

Nurses and doctors alike think that Koal is doing fantastic, and over the next few days he'll have more blood work, x-rays and an echo to monitor continued healing.

Koal is resting now, and I'll update again tonight. THANK YOU, as always, for all your thoughts and prayers.  We feel God's presence in such incredible ways, and His mercies are amazingly abundant!!