BIG Day!

I will post pictures of the man of the hour soon,

but, what you really want to know is how he's doing.

I've been back in recovery all this time and my mom just took over so I could grab a bite to eat.

But that's not really what you want to know either,is it?

You want to know if he got his trach out?

well...

That beautiful piece of plastic that God used to save our son's life and has been attached to his body for three years...

is no longer in his neck.

It currently is laying on the hospital bed, in the corner of the sheet.

They were back with him for far longer than any previous bronch which made us feel sure they were doing something back there.

The ENT surgeon said it went better than expected. They had do a lot of stretching to his airway to laser out the tissue. They also didn't get it all but didn't feel as thought they needed to. She said the rest often shrivels up once the trach is gone.

When they first brought me back to him he was still groggy from the anesthesia and breathing very loudly, but without a trach.

I had imagined this moment in my mind before. What would it be like to walk in and see my son without his trach and not have to freak out? What would he breath like?

With all the lasering,it swells the airway for a couple of days.

That, along with a possible bronchitis and that leftover tissue,means they want him to stay in the hospital a day or two and watch him closely.

So far, everyone is so very pleased with the outcome.

Shepherd is saturating on his own just fine and everyone feels very good that over the next couple of days, he'll get better and better at breathing on his own.

I can hardly believe it.

I'm so tired.

Wow.

2 days shy of his 3rd birthday.

I couldn't have given him a better birthday present myself.

If you want to be praying for us, please just pray that he gets to feeling better. When he's not sleeping he just feels overall crummy and miserable.

And we're still waiting for a bed so he is in the PACU where only one adult can be with him at a time.

I'll get pictures and more details to you by tonight.

Thank You,thank you,thank you for praying and caring for our family.