Today was an awesome day! AJ was moved to moderate care this morning!! We are just one step closer to going home! They stopped many of his medications today. They took out one arterial line and took out the IV that was in his left hand. They did not take out any chest tubes as anticipated because he still has quite a lot of drainage. They have to sedate him and he has to fast for 6 hours before they can remove them. So they will try for tomorrow but that is not guaranteed.
His eyes are still puffy though but he is able to open them. The morphine is really making his face itch so now it's red from him scratching. He also decided that he does not want to have anymore oxygen so he kept pulling it off and putting it in his mouth. They said that they will try to ween his oxygen tonight. They ended up giving him some Benadryl, Tylenol, and Motrin interchangeably throughout the day. Hopefully, that will allow him to be comfortable and then they can stop the morphine. His fever is also gone so that's great.  I was able to hold him again today. It was still difficult but he liked it more than yesterday. He is tolerating his feedings very well. I asked for OT to come in and help with oral feedings so hopefully that will happen tomorrow or by Monday.
He is finally getting back to his normal self: kicking all over the place and trying to laugh and scream but still doesn't have his voice yet.  I think that confuses him. We do not know how long he will be in moderate care before he can be moved to regular PEDS. Everyone continues to go at his pace. He will know when he's ready.