We Are FREEE (From the IV pole)

Today was the day! Gage's INR was 2.2, it finally made the jump we were waiting for.  He has his IV still in his left arm, but there is nothing attached and no pole to drag around.  He had a rough morning.  He woke up nauseous and still had a bunch of medicine to take.  After he (ie his mother) forced them down, almost on cue, he vomited right as the doctors were coming in for rounds.  After some anti-nausea meds and sleep him feel better.  The possible thought is the feeds he is getting at night though the feeding tube.  Last week they increased the concentration from 1 to 1.5.  This way they give him super packed calories in a quicker amount of time.  I'm just not so sure his stomach can handle it.  Tonight they will go back to 1 and see if that helps him feel any better.

We took a fun walk to the gift shop and then out to the fountain to enjoy some sunshine, with just him and "Blackwood".  His first time outside in quite a while.  We then did a few laps up on the 3rd floor and went to the library to get some fun Christmas books to read.  He finally had his first shower. He did NOT love it, but he smells MUCH better. He will just have to get used to not "soaking" in the hot water.  It was interesting how it all works.  Lindsey on the Berlin, never did get to shower.  They take all of Gage's equipment and put it in a special "shower" bag.  The bag is made to get wet, but not soaked.  They put press-n-seal around his abdomen where his drive line is, to keep it from getting wet.  He then sits on a shower chair and showers, trying to keep the water from directly hitting the bag and his drive line site.  In the end, he admitted it wasn't too bad.

Now, we are one step closer to going to the RMH.  On Monday he will do his excursion in the community.  This is where they take us to lunch and watch how we handle everything without telling us what to do.  They want to test that we know what we are doing.  After that, we will go on an excursion to the RMH and then we will get released to the outside world.  If all goes well, we could get out on Wednesday.  This would be wonderful. All is good and going in the right direction.