Just Breathe ...

Sorry the updates have dwindled a bit here over the past few days - we promise to be better and appreciate all of your concern, it really means the world to us.  Dad's hanging in there, but we'd be lying if we said everything was fine.  He's in the thick of it right now as far as his recovery goes.  He's had some issues with his heart and blood pressure, as well as trouble trying to regulate and slow his breathing.  He still has one of his chest tubes in to drain fluid but he did have the epidural and catheter removed over the weekend which was great.  Last night he was able to walk to for a bit, but it totally wears him out.  He's also extremely nautious from some of the anti-rejection medications but he desparately needs to eat high protein/fat foods to try to build up some of the muscle that he's lost over the past 10 days (and he didn't have a lot to begin with.) 

I had told my Dad that my friend Doug Akagi, who had a double lung transplant at the U a few months ago, wrote in his blog that if you had asked him while he was recovering in the hospital if he would do it all over again, he would say no.  He was that miserable and the recovery was that difficult.  Yesterday, between short, labored breaths, he said "remember when your friend wrote that?  I'm there."  Just breaks my heart, because I know how incredibly grateful he is for this gift of life and how overwhelmed he's been with gratitude, so for him to even hint at the fact that this is that difficult for him is so hard to hear.

A few of us commented last week on how we noticed how nurturing he has been with this new lung - a lot like a new mother is with her newborn, aware of every breath they're taking or not taking at all hours of the day .  You'll be sitting there talking to him and out of the blue he'll ask "what's ... my ... oxygen ... at?" and then he'll close his eyes and try to take a deep breath and slow down.  Can you imagine how odd that would feel, to be able to actually have control over the organ that was just transplanted into your body?  No wonder he's probably been a little anxious and breathing to fast. It's important for him to rest and relax, but we also know that your visits are important to him as well.  We've found that it's great for him to just have one or two people in his room, sitting out of his line of vision most of the time and not trying to talk a whole lot to him but just reading or watching tv with him and helping to get him anything he needs.   We love you all so much and appreciate your continued prayers.


p.s.  Last report on Diane was that she was recovering well from her surgery a few days ago, had her breathing tube taken out and was up walking around on the 5th floor as well.  Dad told me yesterday that he's looking forward to meeting her - hopefully in the hall one of these days :)

Entering Gad Valley

Dad was cleared to be moved up to the 5th floor transplant unit this afternoon - totally bypassed the intermediate ICU which is GREAT news! He's doing his best to try to swallow solid food but his throat has quite a scar from removing the large vent tube. As he was forcing himself to eat another bite of mashed potatoes, I said "just think of this as the biggest marathon of your life, Dad. Pick a spot up ahead, set a goal, and don't focus on anything else 'til you get there." He laughed and said "then right now I must be in the St. George Marathon entering Gad Valley. Definitely looking forward to getting to Diamond Valley." He's my hero :)

Pray for Diane

Please keep Diane Atwood in your thoughts and prayers.  She's the recipient of the left lung (my Dad got the right) and apparently she has to go back into surgery because of issues with the lower part of her new lung. She was doing so well?  Scary.

The tube is out!!!

Dad's off the vent- they pulled the tube out early this morning and he's breathing on his own with his new lung!!! He's getting a small amount of O2 through a nasal canula which they'll be decreasing throughout the morning. Bryan's with him now and said that he's in great spirits, talking well, slept well, etc. I was literally on my knees praying for that tube to come out today when my phone beeped with Bryan's text that said they had pulled the tube and he was breathing on his own. We're so blessed!

I should also mention that Diane, the other lung recipient, was moved yesterday from the surgical ICU to the intermediary ICU and was up walking the halls!  These are good, strong lungs and I'm sure Dad will be following her lead in a day or two.  Such a miracle!  How can we ever thank the donor family enough?  Thinking of them ... always.

From Bryan:

Got a call at 5:30 AM to hurry up to the hospital because my Dad wanted me to be there when they discussed pulling his breathing tube (This can really only be done once with a new lung) so its important to get it right. That drive was very cold, dark and long from Draper to the U. I realized when I got there that I didn't have the radio on the entire drive, a lot of things go through your mind. They ended up pulling the breathing tube and turning off the ventilator right when I got there. After quite a bit of suction and nervousness he started breathing on his own! He and I just sat and had conversations about everything. He looks great, feels great and is eating ice chips. He told me "I'm the luckiest man alive". He still has a long road to recovery but it looks like he's going to make it out of here.

Thank you all for your prayers and positive thoughts, they REALLY did help, what a roller-coaster

Tomorrow will be a better day :)

From Bryan:

Dad is doing well, still couldn't get him off the ventilator yet today but he is making progress. We will try again tomorrow to get the tubes out and have him breathing on his own. His mind seems very clear and he is pretty much off of the majority of the meds from surgery. Since he is unable to speak with the tubes down his throat he has to write everything down. As I was about to leave tonight he made sure he wrote down "Everything will be fine, tomorrow will be a better day". Then he stopped me and wrote "Please make sure you put the Jazz game on my TV before you leave". Now THAT let me know that everything is fine.

Not quite there yet

From Bryan: Just spoke to Dr. Cahill, he wasn't ready to come off the vent very well. They are putting him back on and will try again tomorrow. He can write very well and communicate fine. He is finally asleep so I think it will be best if we let him get some rest for awhile.

Trying to pull the tube

From Bryan: Dad looks good, was not able to sleep much last night. He is off all blood pressure meds for the most part and pain meds are minimal. His vent is off right now and he is somewhat struggling but if he calms down they may pull tube in 20 min. They asked me to leave for 30 min so he can relax. Say your prayers, crucial 30 minutes coming up.