Post-Op Day 2

Today was a long day spent in the ICU. Mitchell is still having a lot of pain, but it does seem to be improving. They have tapered off a bit on the pain medications.
His pacer wires, chest tube, catheter and central line were all removed today.
Now he just has an IV in his arm and upper leg. He also still has the nasal oxygen.
Just before shift change, about 6:30 p.m., he was moved to the Cardiac Step Down unit. We have gotten settled, and hope he can rest tonight.
His feeding was started this afternoon via his feeding tube. They will slowly increase the amount that he receives to ensure he will tolerate it. We should be able to return next month to address the hiatal hernia, but we are still waiting to talk to General Surgery.
Now that he is in the step down, we don't see a continuous monitoring of his blood pressure-just checked every 4 hrs and before his BP medication; but it does seem to be a bit more stable. Still a little higher than they might like post-op.
His sats have fluctuated a bit since he transferred- staying in the 70's with highs in the low 80's at times; this should improve as he is able to eliminate some of the extra fluid he has. They have increased his diuretic medication, so we should see more output.
Thank you for your continued prayers.
I am staying with him at the hospital now that he is out of ICU and more awake.
I will attach a picture of him from this evening- he found a way to make himself comfortable, so we weren't going to try to move him.