Today John sat up in a chair for a little while and . . . stood up and took a few steps!!! It was awesome!!! The nurse called him their miracle! They said he is much stronger than they expected after being in the bed for almost four weeks. The physical therapist and nurse were very impressed.
Now all John talks about is wanting to go home. He can’t wait to take a shower! He gets frustrated easily because he is over this whole ordeal in a big way, but I tell him that even though he doesn’t quite fully understand from where he’s come, he’s in a much better place now. The past few weeks were my hardest days and now these are John’s as he builds up his strength after surgery and ECMO.
I keep telling him that the more he cooperates and pushes on the faster he gets to come home. He understands this and is very appreciative of all the nurses and doctors are doing for him. Every time they come in to work with him he thanks them profusely!
My favorite quote of the day from John is “Can I please just tag along with you?” Tonight when I was leaving this is what he said to me. So, so sweet!
John has been begging all day to go home. He knows he can’t go home, but he likes to let us know how unhappy he is with still being in the hospital. I really don’t blame him at all. I know that I am fed up with it, so I can’t imagine how he feels. When he said this to me as I was leaving I asked him how he thought he would be able to leave. I told him the only way would be to roll his bed out of the hospital because he’s not quite ready to walk by himself yet. I think he got the point – until tomorrow that is – when I’m sure he’ll beg some more. When I ask him what he’s looking forward to the most when he goes home he answers, “Take a shower!” Right now that’s all he cares about!
Please pray for John tomorrow. He will have his first heart biopsy and right heart catheterization of his new heart. This will show the doctors what, if any, rejection of the heart he has had. From there they will adjust his medications to help with it. Thank you so much for your prayers!!
Today everything went well. John is only on two IV medications now. His blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen level is all stable and good. He did not have dialysis today, and the doctors will continue to monitor his kidneys daily to decide if he needs it. Tomorrow he will have to walk further. He will probably start being pushed a little more aggressively now since he’s doing so well.
Thank you so much for continuing to pray for John!!!
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