Gratitude...

7/23 - PM Update

Posted 9 minutes ago

Good afternoon and good evening friends and family. We just got done with an emotional few hours with Stacey. While we were out earlier, they took her off the ventilator and put her on a "CPAP" machine, like they use for folks with sleep apnea. It was positive because she got the tube from her throat removed. We were very excited that she made enough progress in lung strength to warrant this change, but the Dr and Stacey agreed that if breathing was a struggle, then she would have to go back on...

Well, they just put her back on... It's okay because Stacey told me before they re-intabated her 2 things: #1 - "It's one step at a time" and #2 "that she loved us". Cry, cry, cry, cry...(that's us not her, she went under sedation)...

So, where does that leave us? Well, we feel good that the doctors have hopefully figured out what is causing her fever and are treating that. Also, her lungs were strong enough to try to get her off the CPAP, although they weren't quite there yet. Lastly, they are going to do a tracheotomy tomorrow and put a breathing tube directly into her wind pipe. This way she can go another week or two (if needed) on the ventilator without having her mouth hanging open and a tube down her throat. She will be much more comfortable and will give her body support for healing. The lung issue is an autoimmune reaction to receiving so much blood, most likely.

That is tonight's update, so keep keep Stacey in your mind and in your heart. Her trach procedure is scheduled for 10AM ET tomorrow.

We had a nice conversation, inspired by my mom, about things that we are thankful for. Here are some...
- That Stacey had a successful surgery
- She is no longer bleeding internally
- She is on some good meds for her latest issue
- The chance of a full lung recovery is very good, with time
- That we all have each other, because there is no "I" in team
- That we have so much support
- To have Stacey here and all the wisdom she has given me
- The wonderful doctors at Mayo
- The donor family
- ... we can fill the page....

please think of what you are grateful for and settle into the feeling of peace and the strength of love...