Sorry for the long gap, but the last couple of days have been hectic with travel and getting back to work.
Tap continues to heal at breakneck speed. He had his first Tim’s since surgery today, but I hear he strayed from the tried and true “double-double” for the marginally healthier “single-single” and didn’t care for it much. You’ve been through a lot Tap, but don’t be afraid to live a little; you deserve it.
The second of three chest tubes was removed today along with another IV line. The last chest tube will likely be gone tomorrow before moving to “the 7th floor”. The 7th floor is the 3rd stop after surgery following ICU and “step down”. They said he would have been moved today but there were no beds available.
Keeping down some of the meds has been a little tough but he’s getting the hang of it. They still make him wretch, but at least they are staying put. During the first couple of weeks the dosages can fluctuate quite a bit while the doctors try to establish optimum levels of each drug in his system. Once the dosages begin to stabilize, the nausea should subside as well.
Tappy was the 99th lung transplant performed at Toronto General this year.
At noon today, Dad got out of bed for the first time since the operation. He walked a good distance down the hall and back to his room, with about 600 pounds of machines, poles, bags and tubes. He was then seated in a chair where he would remain for over an hour and during this time, he had his first meal….tomato soup, lemon jello, and cranberry juice. If he tolerates that, they will remove his feeding tube. Dad is progressing exactly as he should be and is moving from ICU to Stepdown in about five minutes. His spirits are great and he has little to no pain. He is still very tired as you can imagine but everything is going very, very well.
I have to pass along so much thanks to Mona and Dave Finlay. Without them, I wouldn’t have been able to get here. They have been there for me since the day Mom and Dad left and I love them more than they will ever know. Thank you guys!
Stay tuned…..Mike will be adding some pictures pretty soon and we’ve recorded a message from Dad for all of you which will be posted here as well.
On the way home from the hospital this eveing I got a call from Jean. We had been trying to contact her for hours to give her an update, but were only getting voice mail. It seemed odd given the circumstances, but we figured she must have been working. But she wasn’t; she was traveling.
She stopped by Mona and Dave’s for tea at about 11am but tea was cut short to make a 12:05 flight out of Sydney. Thanks to Mona and Dave for arranging the flight and giving up the airmiles. Mom and dad were both extremely surprised and extremely happy to see her.
It has been a long day of waiting for Tap. First thing this morning, we were told his numbers looked very good and the tube will come out soon. The doctor was very busy and despite the good reports from the respiratory technicians, she had to see him before they could remove the tube.
At 4:10PM she gave the go ahead and the tube was removed at 4:30. His mouth and throat are still very dry but his voice is getting better.
We think we overheard the doctor say he will likely go to stepdown tomorrow. That is one step better than ICU, where he is now.
He needs to sleep now. Hopefully he will be able. The monitors and machines around him emit an alarm for one reason or another every couple of minutes.
We hope to have a picture or two up here later tonight.
Its almost 11:00AM here and still not much to report…that’s good news. The doctors and technicians expect to remove the tubes this morning but it hasn’t happened yet, not due to his own condition but more so the situation. The snow is still coming down and staff may be short.
His pain is under control and he is still very tired, partially a side effect of the drugs. We are passing on the well wishes and he is very happy to receive them.
First of all, sorry for the lack of posts today. On a day where so many people were looking for frequent updates, the network at the hospital went down and we couldn’t see or post.
Dad is doing very well. We were able to communicate very effectively by holding up a clipboard with the alphebet listed. Tappy would point to each letter and we would spell out what he was asking. It was mostly smart assed comments which is his way of saying he’s OK. It went a little slow until Ed re-wrote the alphebet as a QWERTY keyboard then things really sped up.
The difference in his appearance from one visit to another was very encouraging. He is still breathing on his own but they wanted to wait until the morning to remove the breathing tube. As you can imagine, it is very uncomfortable. He will be very happy to see it gone.
We asked if we could stay in shifts all night but they insisted we go home. As hard as that was to do, I think its best right now that he gets as much rest as possible because we all know he will be pushing tomorrow to progress as much as possible.
Hopefully we will be able to keep a more frequent update tomorrow. Thank you to everybody for the well wishes and prayers and to everybody who has helped in so many ways over the last 14 months. Also, a special thanks to everyone who has signed an organ donor card and made their wishes known.
Today will be a busy day for blog posts. We were in to see Tap again and he continues to get stronger. Where earlier his thumbs up’s were shaky, and hovering a few inches off the bed, now he is, with only a little help, managing his own suction tube (like at the dentist, only bigger) to keep that drowning feeling at bay.
We did have one fright. Don’t worry, it was nothing to be concerned about, but it was a little scary to us lay-people. He started to cough but with the respirator tube still in place there was no sound, and so it didn’t occur to us that it was a cough. I never realized how violent an action counghing is until now.
Our communication is improving, although for some reason we can’t get “bed up” and “bed down” straight Tap is becoming a virtual zoro with the pencil skipping to and fro across the letter sheet to let us know what he needs.
We were just in to see Tap and he’s looking good and breating on his own. Before we even entered the room he spotted us and mustered a wobbly thumbs up. He is very tired, and having a bit of pain, but in great spirts. Communication is tough right now with the ventilator tubes still in place, but ma doesn’t need much input to know what he’s thinking.
After the thumbs up, the next bit of communication Mike and I had to decipher was a request for the time. Apparently he has been asking for the time quite a bit and without doubt he is watching the clock until he can “get that jesus tube outta me”. In a comment Trevor predicted Tap will be on his feet today. I certinly wouldn’t bet against that.
I have a bit of a bone to pick with my uncle Barry… You could have given me a heads up that this was a black tie affair! I arrived in jeans and a sweat shirt only to find I was way underdressed for the occaision. Barry spent the night here with mom dressed to the nines in a fancy black Tux. Show off!
Tap was wheeled into surgery last night and everything went perfectly! Dad is not yet fully awake but was able to muster up the strength to give Mom’s hand a gentle squeeze. Barry (Dad’s brother) spent the entire night with mom and was a great support as he has been throughout this entire ordeal. We love you Barry! Ed and Mike flew in early this morning. I, of course, wish I was there but circumstances don’t allow for that. Please say a prayer, have a drink or whatever it is you do and our thoughts are also with the grieving family who’s generous gift has given us our Tappy back. We thank them so much for for choosing to give life at such a devastating time. A reminder to sign your organ donar card if you haven’t already, there are still families waiting!
Tap is becoming a virtual zoro with the pencil skipping to and fro across the letter sheet to let us know what he needs.