Chest Tubes are out!

Today I got an update from Wendy, who spent most of the day at the hospital waiting for Greg's doctor so they could have a meeting. The meeting was set for 4:30, but after being told "just 20 more minutes" several times- it finally happened at 7:45. Which was good, because by that point Greg had kicked Wendy out of his room, motioning for her to go home and tickle the kids for him.

They removed Greg's chest tubes after they determind that no more fluid was accumulating. They will still continue with their daily chest Xrays to moniter any fluid build up, but they were fairly confident we are past that.

Yesterday they also put Greg on just the bipap (off of the ventilator) for the first time. He lasted a full 2 hours, which is FANTASTIC for his first time.

The doctor's meeting with Wendy was all about performing a tracheotomy on Greg so that if he needed to remain long term on the ventilator, he would be able to have a little more mobility for starting physical therapy. It is easier to wean off of, but it is another proceedure which carries its own risks. They would also be changing trach tubes for smaller ones as they weaned him off so it would be multiple proceedures.

Wendy spoke with Judy and also Jenn about their feelings and we have decided as a family to hold off for now. We are going to give Greg another week and see how he is doing. The doctor really had no reason why it was medically necessary for Greg at this time- it is more so common protocol for them. Greg is doing so well, we didn't want to set him back and add risk when it really isn't necessary at this point.

So we are moving in a posative direction! Thank you everyone for all of your love and support! We aren't sure who all has received the link to this blog, but please feel free to pass it on to anyone you think would be interested in following Greg and Judy's recovery! Also, please feel free to post any comments, questions, and such that you wish. We all wish to do our best in keeping everyone up to date as much as possible! We love you all!