According to Caroline, the night nurse, Wes was agitated through the night but continues to make progress. We’re told that he was convinced that he was going to go home and doing everything he could to get up and go. Fortunately he was calmer and sleeping when we arrived this morning. He’s on a medication (code name “dex”) to further assist with reducing agitation and that, in combination with the Ativan, means he’s been able to rest comfortably today and continue to get needed rest. Tomorrow they plan on beginning to wean him from the morphine.

They let him practice being off the ventilator for a little in the night (something they call pressure support sprinting) and he did well. They thought they might be able to remove the breathing tube today but he was placed back on it this morning based on some extra fluid that they’re still trying to clear from his lungs and for which he’s on an antibiotic for the rest of the week. It should come out tomorrow (Wednesday) instead. Tomorrow they should also be able to remove the chest tubes.

Wes has been attended to during the days by Nurse Lily and Nurse Lizzie who is training under Lily. They’ve been with him since Saturday and have been great (Jen and Caroline, his recent night nurses, are also great but we don’t see them as much since we aren’t yet sleeping in the room)! Andrew and I end up with a lot of questions, only some of which are actually relevant, and Lily has been a really good sport with her patient answers and in pursuing answers she doesn’t know. We’re bummed that tomorrow is Lily’s day off (well-deserved!) and she’s going to miss all of Wes’s big steps. She and Lizzie have been amazing getting him to this point and we will always be grateful.