Messages for Emily & Jason

Please comment on this post with any words of encouragement, prayers, verses, thoughts, etc that would be an encouragement to Emily and Jason. I am located in Nashville and decided to stay here today in order to keep the blog updated quickly but will be heading to the hospital tomorrow morning. Due to poor internet coverage in the hospital, I will print any comments on this post to give to Jason & Emily tomorrow morning before I leave. I know she will eventually get to read every comment but this will be specifically for tomorrow. No matter if you know her or not, feel free to comment as this is a great way to bless her in her recovery!

7:00 PM Update

Jason was able to visit Emily about an hour ago. The doctors are very pleased with how she is doing so far. She was somewhat responsive to him by shaking her head and squeezing his hand but was pretty much out of it which is normal. She was able to signal that she was in pain which is hard to see and hear but to be expected. As difficult as it is to see her like that with all of the tubes everywhere, things still look good. If all goes well tonight and the first part of tomorrow, they will take her off the vent and pull the tubes out. This is very important and is key to her recovery.

Jason is very encouraged and very drained. I asked if there was anything we could specifically be praying for and he said "just that Emily continues to get better." A precious statement from a loving husband that desires to see his beautiful wife heal completely from such a traumatic surgery. He will get to see her again at an 8:30 PM visitation and I will post an update after that. ~Emily T

What's Next?

Emily will be in ICU for at least the next 24 hours and possibly for up to a week or so. And she is not by any means out of the woods. Keep praying as the first few hours and days are critical to her body accepting these new lungs and learning to breathe again in a way she has not been able to in quite some time.

There is a lot of information about pre-transplant but it is harder to find information about post-transplant. A blog that Emily and I have been keeping up with since late December is a chronicled journey of a woman who has a very similar story to Emily's. Tricia has CF, gave birth to her daughter in January, and received new lungs in April. Her husband, Nate, has chronicled their journey incredibly well and includes the good, the bad, and the ugly. I've been so thankful for their story as it has given Emily and I and anyone else who reads it, a glimpse of post-transplant life. Although, Emily's situation is still unique and different, their journey could be very similar to what Emily will go through.

You can check out his blog and specifically read this post where he details the process of transplant and is a good general explanation of what Emily has been through and will continue to go through.

Surgery Complete!

Just spoke to Jason (4 PM CST) and the surgery is complete! The doctor said it went beautifully. The right lung was a bit harder to get out than the left so it took a little longer but the overall surgery was a success. He was about to get to go see her before they move her to ICU and was overjoyed at the news. He cannot begin to express how grateful he is for your prayers and support. It just simply means so much and words cannot begin to portray his gratitude.

Please praise the Lord for the success of the surgery!

Right Lung In!!!!

Just spoke to Jason (1:45 PM CST) and a nurse had just come out to give them an update. They have removed her old right lung and replaced with with the new good right lung and it went PERFECT! She is doing great overall and they are just starting on the left lung and the surgery is going really well. The decided to do the right one first because that was the worst lung...or as Jason describes it..."insanely messed up." It is the one that has collapsed numerous times and looks quite horrible on the xray. By getting the worst one out, her new lung can go ahead and start working for her while she is still in surgery. Praise God! This is such a relief and so wonderful to not only just get news during the surgery but for it to be such good news! I forgot to ask how much longer they expected it to be but I am guessing more towards the 4 O'Clock hour. I'll keep you posted. Continue to pray right now! ~Emily T

Encouraging Observation...

As we wait to hear more specific news about Emily's surgery, I thought I'd share with you a personal observation. Emily and I were able to talk on the phone last night for about 45 minutes while Jason and her brother Ryan went out for a guys night. This was all before they received the transplant call. I remember hanging up the phone and thinking how good Emily sounded! The last couple of months have been pretty difficult for her physically as she has been in more pain, been more tired, and on IV therapy. Since most of our friendship is on the phone, we've become pretty accustomed to reading each other's voices and the sometimes hidden stories behind them. For the first time in a while, I did not hear her cough, her voice was strong and encouraged, and she did not sound tired or in pain. Now, after knowing she is in surgery, I'm so grateful that she was feeling stronger than she had been and hope that this added strength will be a blessing in her surgery and in her recovery. ~Emily T

She's In Surgery!

Just spoke to Jason (8:30am central) and she is in surgery....officially. They were not informed when she actually went in and the surgery probably started between 7 & 7:30am as she has been under for about an hour or so. The entire surgery should take 6-8 hours which should put the completion time 1-4 PM. Jason is with Emily's brother Ryan and his friend Matt in the waiting room. Matt's wife Shay, just took Faith back home so she could get some rest. Jason's parents arrive at 1:45 PM and some of Emily's family will be on flights soon.

This is very exciting news but also a little daunting as the wait rolls on. Jason asked for your continued prayers and greatly appreciates your support. Please pray for the skill and wisdom of the doctors, for Emily's body to respond well, and for peace and comfort for those who wait. Please also lift up the donor's family who are more than likely grieving for their loved one at this moment. Pray that the blessing of new life for Emily would be an encouragement and blessing for them.

Lord, take care of my precious friend Emily. I know you love her more than any of us combined. Lamentations 3:22-24 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."~Emily T

In Pre-Op at UAB

Hi everyone. This is Emily's friend, Emily Tardy. I will be updating her blog while Emily is in the hospital.

Emily & Jason headed to Birmingham about 2 am this morning after receiving the confirmation call that things looked good for her to be a match with this set of lungs. When I talked to her, she said that one other person was being called as well but that they knew nothing about the other patient. I just spoke to Jason at 7:30 am and said that they had wheeled her back for pre-op and were doing the final testing for the lungs and should know fairly soon whether things are a go. She was this far into the process on Christmas Day so I can only imagine all that she is feeling. They received very little sleep last night and I'm sure are ready to know one way or the other. Emily's brother Ryan has been visiting them for about 2 weeks now, and Faith is with their good friends Matt & Shay. Please pray for Peace to reign as they await the final outcome. ~Emily T

Our 5th Call

We just got a call that there might be a possible donor for me. The coordinator will call back around midnight to let us know if we need to come in or not. She said everything looks good so far and that I am high up on the list but they need to finish running some test to make sure I'm the right person. If we do go in my friend, Emily, will be updating my blog so everyone can know what's going on. We just ask for your prayers, for peace and strength to face something this big and that these lungs would be the right ones for my body. We know God is bigger then our fears and this surgery and so we just cling to Him for grace to walk through this. Thank you all for your prayers, love, and support! We will update (or Emily will) as soon as we know more.

Big Helper

If you were to come to our house you would see this very normal, daily routine of me doing my treatments and my little helper there to assist. It's amazing how you become very good at multi-tasking when you have children and add CF to that and you have no choice but to become a super, creative, octopus (many arms)! I took a picture of the most my two hands can do as well as remember what I'm doing and finish everything. Here I have my oxygen on (which thankfully that doesn't require hands), doing my vest (helps break down my mucus. I do twice a day), also my breathing treatment (3 or 4 times a day), as well as doing my IVs while looking at books with Faith or playing games. My little helper is always kind enough to help show me where every plug, tube, and syringe goes and I have to say she is right 95% of the time. It only becomes a real challenge when she feels mama is having all the fun and wants to take a puff of my treatment or push in the saline to my IV. I wish I could explain to her how blessed she is not to be having all this "fun". Maybe someday soon I won't have to be doing these treatments too. I've told Jason thinking about being able to breath well again or not having to do my treatments that I've done daily for 24 years is like telling a paralyzed person they can now walk. Although we pray and hope for transplant we know it is defiantly not a cure and know more or less it is trading one disease for another. We just hope the things that come with transplant are easier then what it is now. We have no new updates with transplant and thankfully for the moment I'm off IVs. Since the last call we got was at Christmas, it is just very hard to know when we might get another call. Every time the phone (which our home phone doesn't ring much since we use our cells more) rings your heart skips a beat thinking it might be the call. We continue to pray it might be this summer!

"Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord". Psalm 27:14