Dear Loved Ones, Family and Friends

I am writing “myself”, finally from the step down unit of Duke! I was transferred yesterday. Things are progressing (i.e. no oxygen anymore, lung drain tubes starting to come out (ouch, but a good kind of ouch), and they are really pushing for me to walk, walk, walk to regain strength.

This journey has been arduous at times, as you know, but I’m looking forward to living these lungs to the fullest out of honor of the generous donor that gave me this second chance at life, and for The Great Giver that allowed me the chance.

Garry has been my rock, as you all can imagine, and really has stepped out of his comfort zone to be maintaining this blog and facebook. Now that Shelly is on the mend, bless her heart, she can help when needed as well.

My goal is to reach out to each of you personally, but I didn’t want to let another day go by without telling you thank you so much for the prayers, thoughts, notes and support. I could feel your prayers carry me through some rough times.

I continue to ask for your healing prayers for the donor family and also for myself; for strength to continue to rehabilitate myself with minimal complications and for the ability to handle unexpected (and some expected) hurdles with peace and for anxiety to not take a hold in those situations.  Specific hurdles at this time are: my heart was stuck in a rhythm in the 170s, twice today, and that isn’t the first time that’s happened since transplant. My prayers would be that I would be able to maintain my potassium and magnesium levels so my heart will stay in time. Also, a few drain tubes need to stop draining and be pulled, hopefully without causing collapses of any kind. And, renewed energy to get myself up and moving to get my lungs into tip-top shape.

As always, THANKS!

In His Love,

Lynda

P.S. I wanted to give a shout out to a special class of third graders that happen to have an awesome teacher, and they have been lifting me up in their prayers. I think there are also some now fourth graders that have been praying for me since they were third graders! Thank you! God loves to hear our prayers, and I often wonder if the prayers of children are just a “little” more special. God’s Blessings to you all!

Hello Everyone, Lynda is doing Excellent. Improvements everyday. All but one tube is out and we r ready to go for another walk. Having a slit issue with her heartbeat Surely with all the blood they've taken they can figure out what's up. Continued prayers are appreciated.
Garry

Hi Everyone, Lynda is improving everyday. Today the chest tubes come out and she is graduating to stepdown. Every walk she pushes more than last walk. Stepdown is she won't be as closely monitored.
Garry

Hello Everyone, Lynda had a good day. No road blocks thus far. She had a feeding tube put in today should get some solid food tomorrow. She  is walking 4 to 5 times a day. She just came off 2 laps everyone cheers when she is burning up the track. Oxygen is perfect C02 as well. Couple more laps before bedtime. Then she'll be a sleeping beauty.

Lynda  doing good she has walked 3 times today. Getting ready to go again she is off oxygen completely. Still no voice that will be awhile before she can talk. That is from the tube that was in her throat. Her oxygen is holding at 95-97 excellent C02 at 40 perfect. Let's all hope this will continue
Garry

Lynda walk one lap this morning. She's doing better still a long way to go. She has a great team of nurses. I should be certified before we leave. Lynda will walk again later today hope she gets a few more at a time. Thank u all for your prayers.

Latest on lynda, She is off the ventilator. Amen. And the trach went in perfectly. She is still a little sleepy but aware off her surroundings. The plan is to have her walking in awhile.

Lynda got put on the ventilator at 5 a.m. Things were going in the wrong direction. Don't know how long for. This will give her time to rest. And turn this around. Thanks for all prayers.

Garry

Lynda has had a very rough afternoon. She had a picc line put in that she was awake for. Her C02 is off so far she only walked about 1 lap had to stop 3 times I push her in the wheel chair the last leg. She was very very weak well Just found out why. They did blood work lynda has H1N1.This will set us back about 1 wk  that's just a guess. I don't about y'all but that 1 wk will seem like a decade. Lots of prayers plz.

Hello Everyone, lynda has came upon yet another bump in the road. We just can't seem to over power this C02 situation. With that being said probably going back on the bi-pap. She's fighting it this time. Looking for different options. For those who don't know what a bi-pap is it goes over nose & mouth to help breathe. prayers for lynda plz

Garry

Lynda is doing good. She has to get her C02 numbers down before she can move from ICU to stepdown. Which involves the breathing techniques we were assigned. Also she has to complete 20 laps  only 14 to go. Amen

Good morning everyone, lynda has already walk this morning. That is fantastic!!!! Her CO2  gas is still Somewhat of an issue. Doctor's said some of the tubs can come out today.So progress is being made slowly.

Lnyda just had a feeding tube Put in. As if she hasn't been through enough.They need to get some protein in her. She has no voice today. Xray just rolled in they have to take a picture to make sure feeding tube is in the right location. This is all normal procedure. Its my job to make sure we do the breathing exercises properly so it will be effective. Nothing like throwing myself under the bus

Good morning to all. Lynda had a pretty good night. The doctors stop by earlier and said her recovery is right were it should be. We need to work constantly on her breathing.For a speedy recovery. Thank everyone for your prayers & thoughts.

Well folks we are having some difficulty with Lynda's CO2 gas. She can inhale good the problem is exhaling to get the stuff out of her lungs. So to keep her off the bi-pap we might have to wake her every hour to take deep breaths. The deep breaths should over come the situation we hope.We can only pray that will work

Garry

Lynda's is doing much better. Her numbers are increasing. She is also breathing on her own. Still weak this transition will take time. She's a tough cookie. l can't wait for the first foot race. I would like to thank everyone for your prayers.

Garry

urgent prayer request

Lynda is retaing carbon dioxide and has been on a bi-pap, which is a form of ventilation. The Doctor came in and decided to have lynda use her new lungs and take deep breaths. This will get her stronger and get rid of the carbon dioxide. Outside of this little set back she's doing good.

Great news lynda just walked 2 laps. And she Did fantastic. Still Kind of weak and tired as a kitten

Lynda is making progress the doctors are going to get here up and walk a little. She's sore and tired. But determined.

Lynda is still in ICU. It will be 1 more hr before they try to wake her.So far everything is going well.I will update as I receive information.

Out of surgery

Lynda is out of surgery and all went well.  We are now waiting for her to be moved to ICU. Thank you for continued prayers for her as well as the donor family.
Shelly

It's a go!!!

Wow! The time has finally come! Thank you all for your prayers thus far and feverant prayers are needed for surgery & for the critical next few days. Garry or Shelly should update this as updates are available. I plan to do an update myself in a few days! Love & God's blessings to all!

#4

We are currently at the hospital for call #4! They don't seem too concerned about the sore throat because I don't have a fever. They did a swab of my throat, so we'll see if that shows anything.

I don't expect to know if it's a go until midnight or so, and even if I do go into surgery, it may be an 6-12 hour surgery. Prayers so appreciated. Hopefully this sore throat won't cause complications if it's a go. Please remember the donor family in your prayers as well.

Hugs/love
Lynda

Cold/Flu?

I'm afraid I might be coming down with a cold. All day yesterday I had a mild sore throat. This a.m. I awoke with a moderate sore throat. I am calling the on-call transplant coordinator today to see what they advise. My guess is that they will deactivate me for a day or two to see what transpires. This is a heck of a way to assure that I'll be home to watch the Broncos play today! lol

Prayers appreciated that this doesn't turn into something severe, please and thanks.

Have a blessed day!
Lynda

Ugh

Well, this was dry run #3. These lungs just weren't the right ones. One of these times will be the right match, God willing. Thank you for your love, prayers and support.

#3!

Garry and I are currently at Duke for call #3! I will let you know when we hear something. Hugs and Blessings!

Dry Run #2

While most of you were sleeping last night, we were at the hospital experiencing dry run #2. We got a call at 11:30 pm asking us to eat a small snack, shower, etc, but to be there in an hour, and that we would receive word on the lungs at 8 or 9 a.m. today. We finally received word at approx 10 a.m. and the news was that the lungs were not good. We didn't send out emails or advertise on facebook, so everyone could get a good night's sleep and not worry about if I was in surgery or not. Speaking of surgery, I'm not sure if I've mentioned that lung transplant surgery takes 6-12 hours, so if we ever get the "all clear" in the evening, it will be quite some time until surgery is completed, so getting some sleep is suggested! lol

Have a good day, and I'm going to try to catch up on some sleep!
Blessings,
Lynda

Pulmonary Rehab

I thought I would share some photos of the pulmonary rehabilitation center. I hope this works! Here I am just arriving

Walked for 30 minutes on track, no breaks! Slow and steady--I did approx 1.25 miles today. I need that walker to hold the oxygen! My cannula has a glare on it & it looks like I have something white under my nose. lol

 

The floor exercise area and some of the bikes

My friend, Cris--he's a month post transplant (CF), and it's been sooo great to see him book around that track with no oxygen on, and he can even walk and talk at the same time!! lol The transplant meds completely knock out your immune system for the first few months, so the post transplant patients are supposed to wear masks, and I wear one myself when I am near them, out of respect for them.  

Dry Run

The lungs were not good this time, but we learned a bit about what to expect when the call comes, and that will help to ease some of the anxious-ness next time.

The fact that my first call came less than 24 hours after being listed was encouraging! God has a plan for us, and in the mean-time I do ask for your prayers for the donor's family. God Bless you all!

wow!

Believe it or not I have already received a call for potential lung's! I have to now wait to see if they're viable. We will update more as we know more! Prayers please!

LISTED!!

Yes, you read it correctly; I am officially listed for transplant as of this afternoon! My call could come tonight, tomorrow, next week, or next month. I do have to say that Duke's average wait last year was 12 days, so I don't think it will be next month, only God knows.

Duke sends teams out to look at a lot of lungs, and due to this, they often have what's called a "dry run". This is where they call the recipient, get them at the hospital, prep them for surgery, all the while they are going to the donor's hospital to evaluate the lungs for possible transplant. If the lungs are damaged in some way or are poor quality, then they call the patient waiting for lungs and tell them it's a no-go, and send the patient back home. What an emotional roller coaster that would be, and it is very common. One man from my pulmonary rehab class has had 4 dry runs so far, bless his heart!

My doctor said that I do have some risks involved with my atrial flutter and blood clotting history, but I trust that they will address these at the time of transplant. I do ask for your prayers for these issues, among others. Also, just for peace and calm for all of us during this period. I also ask for prayers for Dakota as she anxiously awaits word on how I’m doing. Of course, I also ask for prayers for the future donor family.

Either myself, Garry or Shelly will update my blog and facebook page during this process.

Thank you sooo much for your prayers, thoughts, support, comments, and encouragement during this time!

God Bless and xoxo

Lynda

*not sure why some lines are highlighted! lol