Breath Of Heaven

As I was out running some last minute errands today, the Christmas song "Breath of Heaven" by Amy Grant came on the radio, and it brought back a flood of memories of last Christmas Eve and my Dad's lung transplant.  I remember hearing this song on Christmas Day, driving home from the hospital and how the words to the chorus had taken on a new meaning to me as I thought of my sweet dad lying in a hospital bed, trying to breathe with his new lung.  I'm overwhelmed with emotion and gratitude that he is still here with us one year later.   I'm so grateful for the donor, their family, the doctors and so many of you who have helped him and our family in your own special way.  But mostly I'm grateful to God, for his son, for their mercy and for the "breath of heaven" that our family has constantly felt surrounding us this past year.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Chorus:
Help me be strong, help me be, help me
Breath of Heaven, hold me togetherBe forever near me, breath of HeavenBreath of Heaven, lighten my darknessPour over me Your holiness for You are holy

Read more: AMY GRANT - BREATH OF HEAVEN LYRICS 

Goodbye Coach Majerus

Like any good, red-blooded Ute fan, Carter made sure he and Dad made it to the Huntsman Center tonight to honor the memory of Coach Rick Majerus. If Bryan and I weren't living 300 miles away we'd be right there with them enjoying our beloved Cracker Jacks and Red Vines with Dad in the familiar comfort of the Huntsman Center. We've all enjoyed countless basketball games with Dad over the years and feel so blessed that he's still here with us today almost one year after his transplant surgery.

He's been slowly improving over the past few months from his heart surgery and we'll hopefully continue to see the swelling go down in his lower body. He still tires easily, but is as determined as ever to building up his strength to be able to do some of the things he loves to do.

Pictures like this one are priceless to our family now. Lets hope we'll see many more "Ute" family pictures in the years to come. Thanks for the memories and may you rest in peace Coach Majerus. GO UTES!!

He's Home!

Dad was finally released from the hospital yesterday! They have pulled the two drains and will monitor how he's doing over the next couple of weeks to see if this latest surgery did the trick. We're watching for swelling in his lower body, rapid breathing and the extreme fatigue he was feeling before the window pericardial surgery and hoping that those symptoms don't come back. If they do, then we'll discuss options with his doctors at that time.

Dad has loved hearing from so many of you and for the many hospital visits he received over the past few weeks. Jan and Anne Bagley, Jim and Beau Carlson, Lynette Randall, Jay and Tammy Minick, Keith Wallace, Gail and TC Conlin ..... the list goes on! Thank you for your encouraging words and prayers. Thank you to the sweet neighbors and members of my parents ward who have brought in meals and checked in daily with our Mom. Thank you to the wonderful nurses and doctors at the U who are always so compassionate and patient with all of us. And thanks to Dads lung donor and their family for making all of this service and compassion possible, and for giving my Dad a second chance at a beautiful life.

Out Of Surgery Now

Dad made it through the surgery just fine and is recovering now.  We'll be able to see him in about an hour or so.  Dr. McKeller came out and explained that he was able to create a small window in his pericardial sac to help drain any fluid build up in the future.  He said that the outer pericardial sac - the shell that holds the heart) actually wasn't as hard as he thought it would be, but that the inner sac, which is actually attached to the heart, almost like an outer skin layer that has blood vessels attached, was actually thicker than he was hoping to find.  This could be a problem because if, in a couple of weeks, Dad starts feeling the same symptoms again (compressed chest, lower body swelling, fatigue) it means that his heart is still constricted, and Dr. McKeller said that trying to surgically remove the inner sac is a much riskier surgery because of the high potential for blood loss.  They have taken samples of the sac which will be evaluated for any signs of disease, TB or fungus (which he said he thinks is highly unlikely) and they said we won't have the results for a month or so.

So, the good news is that Dad made it through the surgery with flying colors, that his new lung is actually doing awesome, and that this new window should help with fluid drainage.  Hopefully that will be enough and he'll be feeling much better within a couple of weeks after recovering from this surgery.  We will all be praying that he continues to feel better and not worse over the coming weeks so he can finally have a chance to enjoy his new lung.  If all goes well, he should be able to go home on Sunday.

Here we go ...

Dads the one in the blue. I'll feel a whole lot better when he's in the red. Coincidence that the color "red" represents the finish line of the surgery? I think not. :)

Twas The Night Before Surgery ...

Since the fluid build up has increased in the last 24 hours, they're just going ahead with the surgery to put a window in his pericardial sac. Surgery should be around 7:30-8am and will last about an hour. If all goes well he should be home by Sunday. The girls and I made it up from St. George just in time to come see him and get some much-needed hugs from Grandpa. We had a little family prayer with him from Annie and we all agreed that we feel really good about tomorrow.

On our way into the all-to-familiar lobby of the hospital tonight we ran into Keith Wallace, one of Dads best friends, as he was just leaving from visiting Dad. And my cute niece from my previous marriage, Lynette - a freshman at the U- had come to visit Dad earlier today which was great - he loves an excuse to hear all about campus life and her plans at the U.

Thanks to all of you for everything - we love you!

Here's the latest ....

Well, unfortunately the fluid around Dad's heart didn't drain completely and as quickly as his doctors would have liked, so the plan as of tonight is that they will remove the chest tube tomorrow morning, then wait 24 hours before they can do another echocardiogram to get a good look at his heart.  From what Dad told me tonight, the doctors will then go ahead and do the more minor of the two surgeries where they will cut a small window in his pericardial sac and insert a small drain that will remain there permanently to allow the fluid build up to drain into his body.  Because of his recent blood clots, his doctors would rather wait to do the more invasive heart surgery to remove the pericardial sac completely when his body has had more time to recover from the blood thinners and such.

So, it looks like he'll be having surgery sometime on Thursday and from there, who knows?  He thinks he'll be going home right away, but I think we need a bit more information from the doctors before we can plan on that.  If I know my dad, he'll do and say anything to get out of there in time to go to the Utah/BYU football game on September 15th.  To be honest, I'm fairly confident there are a couple hundred of his family and friends who love him enough to ban together, bust him out of there and wheel him down to the stadium ourselves!

As I was saying goodbye to him on the phone tonight, he said "I just don't want this to be how my grandkids remember me .... all hooked up to machines lyin' around in a hospital bed.  I've got stuff I need to do with them!"  He's got places to go and people to see, dang-it!  Don't worry Dad - I'm pretty sure when they think of you, years from now, the pictures in their head look a little something more like this ....