December 8 The Holidays

For the sake of the followers of this blog who are in other countries around the world, Thanksgiving Day was celebrated in the US on November 25. Dinner was perfect. Rosaline makes the best turkey stuffing I have ever had. We put up a few small Christmas decorations around the house. The large tree was standing but not decorated. My son Derek and his family were over to say hello. I took the opportunity to get a photo of my granddaughter Grace and I together under a small Christmas tree. This has become a tradition for the two of us, starting when she was 8 months old. Every year since we have a nice picture of just the two of us under a Christmas tree. This made our twelfth picture that are displayed in two large frames. I was sporting a black eye, something common with the disease that I am trying to shake. Trent, her brother, jumped into the picture to show that he can put Papa back in his place. One of the big treats of the holidays is a turkey sandwich with dressing and cranberry sauce. These are always anticipated with the leftovers.

While this year I did not stuff myself with dinner, that evening I was experiencing several health concerns; a bad case of light headedness and a compromise of balance. Other symptoms included shortness of breath and discomfort in my right side. We decided to get into a doctor the next day to find out if anything serious was going on. A chest x-ray showed a large dark region of the right side of the lung. After spending a few hours in the local hospital, a decision was made to transport me to Seattle so the doctors at the UW Medical Center could address my situation. Due to a heavy snow and very poor travel conditions in the Cascade Mountain passes, I was airlifted to Seattle. That evening I was put into the ICU. The shadows indicated I was bleeding either in or around the lungs. I was given a chest tube to drain the area around the lungs. The procedure produced a fair amount of old blood that had accumulated. Two days later, now Sunday, I was in surgery for a procedure to wash out the remaining blood around the area. The following day, Monday, I had a bronchoscopy (camera and tools down the throat into the lungs) to remove any blood that was there. In a weeks time I had four new holes in my chest to join those I got from my heart transplant. During this time I was also given four units of blood. The reason for the bleeding is unclear. I had blacked out and took a fall several weeks earlier. I have no recall if I fell on my side and did damage to my lungs. Over the nine days I was in the hospital, I was checked out for infections, hemorrhaging and reactions to all the medications I was on. On the day I was discharged, I was feeling much better and could breathe without difficulty. During my stay the doctors were not seeing fresh blood and felt I would be fine to go home. On my discharge papers there was an error with a few medications. The day after discharge I was back being very tired and light headed. The doctors caught the error and instructed me on the correct dosages. Today I am feeling fine and while tired from the ordeal, I continue to look forward to recovery. One good piece of news I learned is that the chemotherapy I am on is having a dramatic impact on the bad cells in my system. Once I am through with the chemo, I can work on my immune system and getting strong again. I think that will be it. Let’s hope so.

I hate to end this posting on such a depressing note with all we have experienced over the past two weeks. In the middle of all the health stuff, we realize how lucky we are to have good medical professionals dealing with this extremely rare disease. We also are thankful for those family members and friends that are standing with us through this time. We are thankful for the simple joys each day brings. Our faith and our continued hope have sustained us.