This journey didn't start a year ago, but certainly the chapter shifted from anticipation, to the sudden reality that Shirley really was going to be receiving new lungs.
One year ago this morning, I was sitting in an office when I got the call to get home and get ready for a quick drive to Seattle. We had lived through two dry runs, we knew the routine. But this time things felt different. We had already made a drive to Seattle and back that week for a quarterly check-in (and had been told it could be another five years before Shirley got the call), but this time I didn't expect a quick round trip. This time it was really going to happen.
One year ago tonight, was our final night of waiting. After a leisurely drive up, including what would be her last meal with Margie, her Dad's girlfriend, we spent the day waiting around for everything to be arranged. As I recall, they were waiting for the heart recipient and none of the transplants could be started until all were in place.
I just reread the posts from those first 24 hours. The surgery started shortly after 3 am on Valentines day, and she was in the recovery room by 10 am. By 5 pm that evening, she had been taken off the ventilator and was using her new lungs on her own.
Fast forward one year. After that amazing surgery and the rapid progress those first few days, she endured all kinds of setbacks. But now, after being home for six months, Shirley continues to gain strength. She still has a lot of pain from the two compression fractures in her back. She tries some days to go without pain pills, but I believe those days she is still having some residual affect from the medications and she's hurting bad the next. I am trying to convince her that the medications are beneficial in letting her do what she wants without the discomfort and there is no shame in using them. This is something that is echoed by her doctors and her father, a retired Orthopedic surgeon.
A couple weeks ago, we went back up to Seattle for another scheduled follow up trip. For the first time since this whole thing began, they recommended no adjustments in her medication regime. Finally, things are stabilizing! But the best news was when her doctor said another follow-up wasn't needed for four months!
We did suffer one setback this past week. We learned that Jenny, the wife of one of Shirley's high school friends and a liver transplant recipient, had passed away. Jenny had been one of Shirley's inspirations throughout this ordeal. We are not only deeply saddened for our friend Ted, but it reinforces the fact that transplants may extend lives, but they come with their own complications and risks. Our hearts go out to Ted as he deals with his loss.
