What a wonderful day! When Carolyn and I saw Chris this morning he opened his eyes and smiled at me. Each time we visit he opens his eyes for us and is aware that we are with him. Each visit to the ICU brings small changes. They removed two chest tubes and the external pacemaker sometime this afternoon. The dressing on the chest incision is gone, the incision looks great. The nurses continue to verrrry slowly wean him from medications. They anticipate trying to remove the vent sometime tomorrow evening-that would probably be the earliest to expect the tube to be out. Everyone we talk to who has been part of Chris's "care" team or the surgical team has been very impressed with how good Chis looks and how well he is doing. I think he looks good and is doing well, but it is great to hear others agree with you. Carolyn and I try to go in to see him for a few minutes every 2 hrs or so. We did take time to leave the hospital this afternoon and get a good lunch-the hospital cafeteria is OK but gets old very quickly. This afternoon we returned to our room-I am not sure who fell asleep first me or Carolyn, but we both had a wonderful and very needed rest. We will go back to the hospital in the next hour or so to say good night to Chris and then return to the hotel and vegitate in front of the tv-good mindless entertainment. The comments and words of encouragement from family and friends are great to read and as I have said before they make home seem that much nearer. Thank you. Mary Jo