A Great Day

Today was a great day. Alex has been moved out of the ICU and is now in a regular recovery room. Last night he had 10 tubes attached and is now down to just 4! Alex's big accomplishments of the day included eating a bit of real food, taking a long 200 foot walk (assisted but it still counts), and in the spirit of saving the best for last, the chest tube was removed tonight! Without the tube his breaths have quickly grown from short and shallow to nearly normal. He is still kept mostly numb in the mid section. We understand that once the epidural is removed in the next couple days the breathing will likely become more difficult again as his pain will certainly increase. Still, for now he is so grateful to know he can take a nice deep breath!
It has been such a big day, far exceeding any expectations. His temperature has hovered right around 101 since he was transferred to the recovery floor. The staff doesn't seem as worried as me so I suppose this is somewhat normal at this point. A lot of prayers answered today. A lot!