Hey, are you going to eat that?

Shepherd's Log: Day 26.
At last update, Shep was driving straight and fast down Recovery Road. Unfortunately, our little underage driver got car-sick and took a couple of spins around Upchuck Circle ( I could go on with these road references for years).
Shepherd has continued his one step forward, one step back style of recovery. Shep's heart surgery was successful, but that led to his lung collapsing. Now, the lung is reinflated and his breathing is great, but he is having problems with feeding and digestion.
As I mentioned last time, Vicki and I were able to start bottle feeding and we were focused on improving Shep's suck / swallow / breathe coordination. Over the last week, Shep's coordination has improved, but the little guy has had difficulty keeping his food down (hence the trip around Upchuck Circle). The doctors are not sure if Shep's digestive issues are side-effects of his medications, withdrawal symptoms or the result of a stomach bug. The good news is that for the last two days, Shep has been able to keep everything down. He takes a little more from the bottle each day and also is getting food through a tube to ensure that he receives enough calories. Our goals remain the same. We are just trying to get Shep back to the feeding levels he was at before the surgery, and with his digestive system stabilized we will hopefully be able to accomplish that in just a few days (famous last words). It has been a trying couple of weeks, but Shep's spirits remain high (checkout the photos of our happy, strong guy below).
Not to be left out, it should be noted that Jack is thriving during his short stint as an only child. The Britton Boys truly balance each other out. Even though Shep has had some trouble eating, Jack has taken it upon himself to compensate and eat everything not nailed down in our apartment. Jack has been equally amazing through this ordeal and has been wonderfully low maintenance for Vic, me and everyone who has taken care of him.
Again, we couldn't do this without a little or a lotta help from our friends and family. Once again, thank you to everyone for your support.
-The Brittons