Update # 6

Its Amy today (Jake's mommy) updating this evening from our very eventful day. This morning around 8:00 the nurses told us that he would be moved out of ICU into his own room on the 15th floor soon and within an hour he was indeed in room 1509 and out of the ICU...that's fast in the hospital world! Once he was in his room, the surgeon's nurse practitioner came by and told us she would be removing his chest tube which was really the last major line that needed to come out (he only has an IV port left). This is very painful so they gave him a dose of morphine and pulled it out quickly and stitched the hole up. He was a trooper and did great! After that a man came by within 10 minutes and x-rayed his chest to make sure his chest was clear after the tube came out. We couldn't believe how fast the process was going...and then we hit a small snag. Jake couldn't eat or drink until they looked at the x-ray and ok'd it. Four hours later we were still waiting and poor Jake hadn't eaten since Monday. He did great for the first few hours but then was pretty uncomfortable. FINALLY, the doctor came by said his x-ray looked great and he could drink and eat. He was so excited to have some water, mashed potatoes, teddy grahams, his sugar cookies his friend Lillie Beth made him, and his Poppy's gummy life savers (we obviously let him eat whatever he wanted!).

After he could eat and drink, he perked up and felt so much better. The nurse practitioner came back by a few hours later and asked us to get him up and walking so we took him down to the playroom down the hall. He was shaky at first, but in minutes he was walking around and playing. He even bent down to pick up toys...amazing! He rode on some toy cars up and down the hall and climbed up on the sofa in his room. We couldn't believe this was the same child who was in ICU that morning. He crashed and took a nap on the sofa for an hour and when he woke up, he was definitely sore from moving so much. We got the nurse to give him some Tylenol with codeine and he settled down again in his bed for the evening.

He has just done amazingly well today and he should be able to go home on Saturday if things continue so well. We know God has healed him and continues to make him well and we praise Him for that! We are also humbled by all of the support we have received. We couldn't have done this week without our parents...Jake has incredible grandparents! The Babb's came to visit today and cheered Jake up as well as the Cuifo's. We've also had so many calls, emails, balloons for Jake, and facebook messages which make all of this so much easier. Just continue to pray for Jake's healing and for strength as he heals. We'll update more tomorrow. Here are some pictures...

Riding the car down the hall proudly displaying his scar.

The whole gang in the playroom...Poppy, Gigi, Nonnie, Grace, Pops, Mommy, and Jake



Watching Mickey Mouse with Pops

Resting in his bed before they took the chest tube out...right after he got moved to his own room