On Wednesday morning, 6 days after the operation, we were informed that we were being discharged from the CICU and sent to "The Floor" or the the step down unit. Owen still had two chest tubes to alleviate some drainage from the operation, but he no longer needed to be under the care of the ICU.
We packed our stuff to leave in the morning and waited for the transportation process to begin. We waited for a couple hours when someone finally came in and told us they had some bad news. A patient had been admitted and there were no beds available. While we would be considered as out of the CICU, we would have to remain in our CICU room another night. This was unfortunate news, because being in the CICU room vs. the Step-down room is like being in a motel instead of a resort. However, we understood the situation and were not overly concerned as long as it didn't delay our discharge from the hospital. Around 5pm, after we had unpacked a re-settled in the room, we got some unexpected news that we would indeed be moving to the Step-down unit immediately. This was unexpected and welcomed news, and we have a feeling someone pulled some strings for us to get moved.
We settled into our new room Wednesday evening, which included much more privacy, significant reduction in noise, better parental sleeping conditions, and the ability for us to eat in the room. At this point, the only thing keeping us in the hospital was the drainage into his chest tubes. Once the drainage reduced, the tubes would come out and we would be even closer to going home. On Thursday, the drainage was borderline, so they decided to keep the tubes in for another day to be safe. Given how smooth and rapid his recovery has been, they didn't want to take any risks. Thursday included some time in the playroom on The Floor, some additional walking, and enjoying the peace and quiet in the new room. On Friday, the drainage was still right on the requirement borderline to have the tubes removed. They did an X-ray before removing the tubes and saw a little cloudiness in his lungs. They talked it over for awhile, and came to the conclusion that they could remove the chest tubes. They increased his diuretic and had us stay until Sunday so they could get an X-Ray on Saturday and Sunday to be sure fluid didn't build up in his lungs.
The chest tube removal process was painful for Owen. He was given some morphine before, but he was still very uncomfortable as they pulled the tubes out and stitched him up. With the tubes out, he was generally much more comfortable. With each step and each day, Owen regained his personality and attitude. Saturday was spent hanging out and watching The Lion Gaurd movie over and over and over and over.
A couple days after being home, Owen started to swell up significantly, especially in his abdomen and legs.We had a follow up visit the Friday after being released, and everything cardiac wise looked great, but we couldn't figure out what was going on with the swelling. His diuretic was increased to try and relieve the swelling. It took a couple days, but the swelling started to subside on Tuesday. It is obvious he is still adjusting to his new circulation, but he is getting better each day. He should be fully healed in about 3 more weeks, just in time for the warm weather.
Thank you again for all the support through this journey. Owen will never be fixed, but we look forward to getting back to normal and staying out of the hospital for a very long time.
