Wednesday!!

I'm so creative with my posts lately. =) Josh just says it way better than I could, so here's another update email.

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So, here I am. It is now 2:15am Central Time. Erin is sleeping soundly in her bed and I am sending out this email update. When I last wrote, Erin was just coming out of sedation. She was acknowledging voices, movies her extremities, and opening her eyes as much as she could. That was basically the jist of it. Since then, she has had her breathing tube removed and is now allowed to eat ice chips. The ice chips are a step up from the sponge-on-a-stick-soaked-in-water method we were using initially. The staff has been checking her hourly; if I remember correctly, on a pain scale of 0 to 10 (with 10 being severe pain), Erin last measured in at a whopping 5. Awesome! Not bad for major open-heart surgery, I guess. =)

My plan was to head home for the night and get some rest, but that doesn't look like it will happen. Oh well. My wife asked me to stay and that is what I will do out of love for her. I was able to catch a nap for about an hour earlier, so hopefully that will help some. Right now things are very quiet in the ICU; maybe I should take advantage of that and call it a day. We'll see.

I want to thank you all again for the phone calls and emails and prayers and support and encouragement. I have been pretty calm w/ everything surrounding this surgery, but I must admit I had a moment of weakness when I first saw Erin in the ICU. I was trembling and my heart went out to her. Having Arlan there w/ me was very comforting b/c he's experienced this before; I asked him if the feelings I had were normal and he explained to me that he, too, was overcome w/ emotion during Erin's first surgery in 1991. At that point I didn't feel so awkward anymore. Thank you, Arlan, for being w/ me today.

Well, I think that should do it for now. I think the next 24 hours will be packed full of good news: Erin should get her catheter removed; she should also begin drinking fluids and possibly some food; and we might get her out of the bed and move around some. I will be sure to keep everyone in the loop. Thanks again for all the support. I know that God was with us today and I am truly thankful to Him for keeping Erin safe and keeping us strong.

Until next time...

Josh