Sunday update

Theo and Whitney have both made a lot of progress in recovery since Friday.  Whitney still has a fair amount of pain, and will likely stay another night in the hospital.  But compared to Friday, she is as chipper as can be and has made several laps around the floor without any trouble.  Yesterday, she even made it all the way to the Pediatric ICU to be reunited with Theo (and Dubya) for the first time since surgery!  Quite special.  She also looks HOT considering she had major surgery three days ago.  

Reunited!

Theo spent the past three days on the ventilator and under sedation.  He's a chunky monkey again, thanks to all the fluids they have been giving him to keep his new kidney happy.  He weighed a little under 20 lbs on the morning of surgery, and has gained 6.5 lbs since then.  The weight gain is normal, and the hope is that Theo will start managing the fluids better on his own in the next couple of days once the kidney and all of his other organs have had a chance to "wake up" following surgery.  In the meantime, he is on some diuretic medications to help reduce the fluid.  

So much better without a ventilator!

This morning, the doctors decided that Theo was ready to breathe on his own.  After reducing his sedation medications and having him wake up a bit, he was extubated and is now breathing room air.  It's been wonderful to see glimpses of our old Theo again today, with his eyes open and his voice returning (though sounding pretty pitiful after three days of intubation).

Really, the main focus for Theo right now is to increase his urine output (with the help of medications) and to keep him in as little pain as possible without lowering his blood pressure, or suppressing his breathing.  He's a trooper, though, and I know he'll get through all of this. 

We're all holding up really well.  It's been wonderful to have family here.  This is a special occasion.  

After the adrenaline of transplant day, I think we are settling into the recovery routine now.  With the sitting and waiting, and the inevitable ups and downs, there is a little bit of stress.  But we are believing that God made Whitney's kidney in mind for Theo, so are praying that he'll make it all work perfectly.   

Our main prayer requests at this point are for a continued recovery for Whitney, ample urine output for Theo so the kidney stays happy, and a painless recovery for him. We are so looking forward to having our son fully recovered!

We've received so many encouraging emails and messages.  We feel so much support, and know that Theo, Whitney and we are loved by many.