Hours of waiting. Anxiety. Making lists of unfinished holiday preparations. Promises to leave the Christmas decorations up until Shirley came home. A goal of being home by her mid-February birthday.
Finally, around 11:30 pm Shirley is rolled into the Operating Room. My sister, Cathi and I head to the surgical waiting room. We were going to wait until we were sure the surgery was under way. Having been through this once before, I knew that the possibility still existed that the final check of the donor lungs could reveal a problem and call the whole thing off.
Sure enough, about 45 minutes later, the surgeon found us and explained that there was an "abnormality" on one of the lungs. Someone else explained to Shirley that it was an infection. Whatever the cause it brought an abrupt end to the saga.
Sometimes things just don't feel right and while you know you have to surge ahead, in the back of your mind you know that things will end differently than they are projected to. Yesterday was one of those days. Whether it was the destroyed car blocking the bridge to the hospital, or the fact the the head of the transplant surgeon was out of town on vacation, the signs just pointed against this being "the" time. And frankly, I know Shirley is relieved.
Tuesday, when we were up for the quarterly visit, we met a couple in the lab waiting room. He too was on oxygen and was very interested in Shirley's portable oxygen unit. We struck up a conversation. This guy had his lungs damaged in a chemical accident. In three years, he has gone from 65% lung capacity to 13%. In comparison, since I've known Shirley she has gone from about 22% to 17%. Relatively speaking, she's in great health and has the ability to wait much longer. When the time comes, the time will come, but yesterday was not that day.
I hope all of you reading this have made the decision to offer the gift of life and have registered as an organ and tissue donor.
I want to thank everyone for their prayers, kind words and positive thoughts. It is amazing how quickly word can spread in this digital age. How Shirley's daughter in Korea and brother in Panama can both get word and be able to call her to express their love. I also want to pass along a special thanks to our family members who jumped in to help out: Mom, Dad, Chloe, Souang--for helping with Chenyang and Joy; Pete & Carolyn for offering a place to stay in Seattle; Cathi for bringing food and company--and eventually taking us in for the night. I am so grateful to all of you and all the rest of the family and friends who simply offered "just let us know what you need." I feel truly blessed.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Is this time for real?
So yesterday, Shirley and I made our quarterly trip up to Seattle for the check-in with the transplant team. A fun 400 mile round trip in rainy/snowy weather. Fifteen hours after getting home, the transplant team called and said they had some viable lungs and that Shirley needed to get there ASAP.
When they called, Shirley was still returning from dropping the girls at school and I was at work. Within 20 minutes, we were both home, car gassed up and we were zipping back up I-5 for the hospital. Shirley drove the first 40 or so miles, while I made calls to wrap things up at work and find someone to pick up the girls and make plans to have someone stay with them (more on that in a later post). She mainly got really rainy, lousy whether with lots of road spray off the many trucks on the road, but she was flying despite the conditions..
When we switched just north of Woodland, things dried out and we continued to make good time. Four times during the drive, the hospital called and asked for an update on our progress. We made it from our driveway to the I-5 exit to the 520 bridge in exactly 2 and a half hours (fortunately without getting pulled over once). Through the first three calls, they indicated we should call when we were 10 minutes out and they would have someone waiting to roll her right to the surgical wing. On the final call, they changed tunes and said take your time.
And a good thing too, because as we turned on to 520, things came to a screeching halt. We could see the hospital across the lake, but we could also see emergency vehicles on the drawbridge and no cars moving. Fifteen minutes later, we finally made it up to Montlake Drive and the first cop who was directing cars on a detour. We talked him in to letting us go and three more cops in helping stop traffic southbound on the bridge so that we could drive the wrong way and avoid the destroyed car that was blocking the northbound lanes. It's amazing what folks will do for you when you say you have to get to the hospital for a transplant.
So we made it to the hospital and now we wait. We waited for x-rays; and then a parade of folks have been by to poke, prod, draw specimens and have her sign forms. We've learned the delay is because they are still waiting for the liver recipient to get here. When a transplant donor is found, there are lots of simultaneous surgeries as they do not want to waste any viable organs. The latest word now is that surgery should begin around 11 pm. The surgery is planned to take about nine hours. There will be more posts to follow.
Please keep Shirley in your prayers.
When they called, Shirley was still returning from dropping the girls at school and I was at work. Within 20 minutes, we were both home, car gassed up and we were zipping back up I-5 for the hospital. Shirley drove the first 40 or so miles, while I made calls to wrap things up at work and find someone to pick up the girls and make plans to have someone stay with them (more on that in a later post). She mainly got really rainy, lousy whether with lots of road spray off the many trucks on the road, but she was flying despite the conditions..
When we switched just north of Woodland, things dried out and we continued to make good time. Four times during the drive, the hospital called and asked for an update on our progress. We made it from our driveway to the I-5 exit to the 520 bridge in exactly 2 and a half hours (fortunately without getting pulled over once). Through the first three calls, they indicated we should call when we were 10 minutes out and they would have someone waiting to roll her right to the surgical wing. On the final call, they changed tunes and said take your time.
And a good thing too, because as we turned on to 520, things came to a screeching halt. We could see the hospital across the lake, but we could also see emergency vehicles on the drawbridge and no cars moving. Fifteen minutes later, we finally made it up to Montlake Drive and the first cop who was directing cars on a detour. We talked him in to letting us go and three more cops in helping stop traffic southbound on the bridge so that we could drive the wrong way and avoid the destroyed car that was blocking the northbound lanes. It's amazing what folks will do for you when you say you have to get to the hospital for a transplant.
So we made it to the hospital and now we wait. We waited for x-rays; and then a parade of folks have been by to poke, prod, draw specimens and have her sign forms. We've learned the delay is because they are still waiting for the liver recipient to get here. When a transplant donor is found, there are lots of simultaneous surgeries as they do not want to waste any viable organs. The latest word now is that surgery should begin around 11 pm. The surgery is planned to take about nine hours. There will be more posts to follow.
Please keep Shirley in your prayers.
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