Is That A Light?

I think...maybe...perhaps that, there in the distance, could possibly be the light at the end of the tunnel.
Olivia drained a whopping 1 cc last night so they went ahead and pulled the tube today. While they were at it they took off Livie's steri strips (the stickers they place over her stitches and incision) and her incisions look fantastic. The surgical glue is still on the center of her zipper so it still looks a little bloody where that is but otherwise it all looks great.
The plan for now is to get my girl up and moving more. Her sats dipped a little last night and we increased her to 3/4 liters of oxygen but they're pretty sure that's just because she didn't get up and moving yesterday. She's back on .5 liter and is satting in the low 90's. Livie threw up her bumex this morning so now that the effusion is gone and she is nice and dry they're going to try the lasix again. They want to keep her for a couple more days to watch her closely and make sure there isn't any more fluid build up. Though we're anxious to get home, we'd rather stay a couple extra days then get home for one and end up back for another week.
The craziest bit of all this is how bad Livie looks compared to how good she feels. Liv's eyes are so sunken from her being dried out but she is happy. She's talking and being sassy and laughing. Right now she's scrutinizing her new zipper. She asked for a hot dog, cooked carrots, and a smoothie for lunch and considering how much she's eaten over the last couple weeks this is very excited for me. Fingers crossed she eats at least some of all of it!
Life in the hospital is strange in that time seems to halt. Every day is the same and often its hard to remember that time is still moving outside of it. But, it has been two weeks since Olivia's surgery. Despite her little hiccups here and there, Olivia is healing. Olivia is well on her way to being the sassy little three year old I have missed over the past couple weeks. Because we are still here it's hard to believe we are done. We are done! Olivia is done with open heart surgeries (ok, transplant probably in the future but positive thinking, right?) She made it! We all made it. I am in awe at this little girl of mine. She is my hero.