Monday evening update

Good day for Watts. His infection had gone more than 48 hours without getting worse (in fact, it's getting much better), so he was able to be rolled down to the Pediatric Surgery floor and have his "hickman line" put into his chest. This will stay on him for a long time– many months– and will be the access point to give chemo treatments. Here's what it looks like:

Watts has been a champ. The nurses all comment that he is remarkably calm when he wakes up from time to time. He seems to have some sense of patience, it's crazy.

While he was sedated for the hickman surgery, an eye-nose-throat doctor checked out his airway for any swelling and determined that he was in good shape to have his breathing tube removed (extubated). Lord willing that will happen tomorrow morning and then....sigh....we will move out of the PICU and onto the 9th floor, Cancer Floor. That sounds scary, of course, but it will be amazing to move to a slower paced area with a more private room. And, more than anything, it means that Watts' infection is on the mend and we should start to see the little boy we've missed so much this week.