Wes slept well overnight and woke up cheerful. His fan club members all peeked in while he was enjoying his breakfast of pancakes, sausage, pear, and milk. Everyone got big smiles. Wes got his feeding tube taken out and they’ve also removed the nose oxygen thing. Andrew, Emily, and Josh got breakfast while Wes had a morning nap. Josh left for home, Emily went back to the apartment for a little, and Wes hung out with Andrew.

Lunch was chicken fingers, green beans, and Pediasure, eaten in his chariot by the window. It turns out the hospital has what they call “go carts” but what in actuality more resemble wheelchairs from the early 20th century, or perhaps an emperor’s chariot. This was all very exhausting, so Wes took a nap and Andrew and Emily headed out again to get Andrew stuff to stay the night in the hospital and grab a cocktail. It turns out Wes was just trying to lose the embarrassing parents so he could have some alone time with lovely Shauna.

We’ve just returned at 4:30 and Shauna informed us that he woke up about 20 minutes in, they’ve had a ton of fun playing, and he just fell asleep again about 10 minutes ago. We’ll wake him up in a bit to go on a parade in his chariot through the halls before dinner.

We’re guessing that Wes will be moved out of the cardiac ICU (the 8 South referenced in the title) tomorrow, much to the disappointment of the nurses. His rhythm stuff is the only thing keeping him here and that seems to be nearly sorted out, or at least reliable. Tomorrow Emily will head home for an overnight stay to give Henry some snuggles. She’ll return on Sunday for the final hospital stretch.

On another note, we’d like to give a shout out to Dr. Kamenir, Wes’s Albany cardiologist. He hasn’t gotten a lot of play time in this part of Wes’s story but he’s the one who got the ball rolling and referred us to Boston. He’s taken great care of Wes over the past year and will continue to do so for years to come. I’ll never forget that before Wes was born he was the only doctor who didn’t expect surgery to be necessary before Wes came home, and he was right. Wes can’t wait for a post-surgery follow up visit.