(Long post alert)

We got to see Wes about 5pm on Friday in the cardiac ICU. He looked so good. Nurse Yoko took us on a tour of his situation, and said that they expected to take the breathing tube out later that evening. He would be sedated until just before, so we left, walked to dinner at Bar’Cino, collected some things at the apartment, and headed back to the hospital, arriving about 8pm. They did take out the breathing tube shortly after that. He was quick to wake up from sedation, and woke up rearing to go and take the breathing tube out himself, thank-you-very-much. It took a team of five to hold him still/safe and remove it. He was given medicine to lower his spiking blood pressure but was off it by morning.

Overnight Wes mostly slept, he was given an ibuprofen-type pain reliever but it increased the fluid draining from his chest so that was abandoned. Andrew woke up around 5:45 to hear Wes and Nurse Ashley discussing various topics including favorite TV shows, where she lived and, for at least the 6th time, what the IV tube in his left hand ACTUALLY was.

On Saturday morning Dr. Emani stopped by briefly to check on progress before heading to another surgery (on a Saturday after leaving the hospital around 9:30 the night before). A little later Nurse Justine had him sit up at the edge of the bed. When she asked if he was done and wanted to lay back down he decided he would rather stand up. So he did! It was very hard for him and painful but he did it. At 10:30 Saturday morning he was moved to a very good room in 8 East, the regular cardiac unit. Nurse Carly got us nicely settled in, and Wes’s first post-surgery hint of a smile was finding “Avengers: Age of Ultron” in the movie options. Sound familiar? Yes, he watched it Wednesday to feel better, too. Before bed Saturday Wes had sat up again, sat in a chair, and gifted his first true post-surgery smile to Henry via FaceTime.

Saturday night was more restless than Friday night, and Nurse Cayla was very attentive. He appears to be her first patient to demand to get out of bed at 3am the day after surgery and just sit in a chair for a bit for some story time. He was weaned off oxygen in the night, dozed a bit, and was back sitting in his chair by 6am.

Sunday morning saw an EKG and chest x-ray to confirm that the pacing leads and chest tube could come out. Mid-day the wires and tubes did come out and almost immediately after Wes is moving much more easily and seems more at ease. His appetite is already picking up. We know he’s feeling more and more like himself because he has started planning how he can make this room his house. We don’t know why he’s always thinking about how to modify space to better suit his needs and where the kitchen should go…

This is a tough post-surgery road. He has dealt with a lot of pain and fear of pain. He’s had tears and frustration and all the other understandable feelings. The medical team does a truly great job with round-the-clock pain meds and, when appropriate, a slightly amnesia-like drug for things like removing chest tubes. But Wes is doing very hard things. Both physically and mentally. He’s pushing through and is amazing.