The Princess Chair

Emily is currently sitting up in a chair eating some of her liquid diet...at exactly 24 hours post transplant! More to follow and possibly even some pictures!

A Post from Ryan (Emily's Brother)

Its amazing that I'm just here visiting Emily for a short time but that she was called during my visit. Its just incredible to be able to be here and do what i can to help out. I'm so grateful to be here with Emily through this experience.

Transplant ICU

I made it to the hospital in just enough time to see Emily get settled into her new room. She was in some sort of post-op ICU last night and was moved to the Transplant ICU (a step up or a step down depending on how you look at it) ...which is a definite positive move. She is very alert and aware and is able to talk! She took her first breath of her new lungs around 2 AM this morning when the took out her vent and her feeding tube (I think that's what she said) all at the same time. Ouch. Our visit was brief because of the end of those visiting hours and so that she could get some rest so I didn't get a chance to ask her how it felt to breathe with her new lungs.

Her new room is quite large and has a sliding door that closes. She will hopefully be able to sleep better because of that. The other ICU was completely open with no privacy so sleep was basically impossible. She has 4 chest tubes and her nurse was installing a lidocaine pouch that automatically sends pain med to the actual incision area to take the edge off. Jason & Eric were just leaving the room and her mother Stephanie and brother Ryan and I were able to go back. Her dad gets in later today.

She has a little table fan to help keep her cool (transplant patients seem to get hot easily) and is sipping on water and ice chips. Her main concern while I was in there was that her mouth was dry and chapped so chapstick and a wet cloth were in order. She said it doesn't really hurt to swallow but that it gets kind of caught in her throat.

Before Emily was moved, she had a bronchoscopy to check her lungs. The scope found very little fluid in the lungs which is great. Stephanie commented on how amazing it is that everything is falling into place. Also, she said that the doctor mentioned that these were the best lungs post surgery that he may have ever seen! How incredible!

Another huge answer to prayer also took place this morning. Once Emily is out of ICU and the normal hospital care, she has to stay at UAB in order to complete her rehab. I believe the estimate is 8 weeks from the time of surgery until she is officially released to go home. But, the medical town homes that they are supposed to live in for the last of those weeks is very difficult to get. However, Jason went to check on them this morning and they were able to get the last one and not only that....it is the pent house two bedroom suite! How cool is that?!?! This is such a relief and encouragement and will be so helpful with Faith too.

That's the latest. The reception in the hospital is good so I will hopefully be able to provide more updates than I was expecting. I told Emily about your comments and she wanted me to read them to her but we decided it would be best after she had a chance to rest. But, I can pull up the blog in her room, so keep commenting!

Moving!

Emily did so well last night and this morning that she is being moved to the transplant floor right now!

Dear Emily,

Today is hopefully the day that you will get to take your first breath with new lungs! Oh what a wonderful joy. We are so excited, humbled, grateful, and blessed by your life. Know that we are praying for you and love you!

[Messages for Emily & Jason have been printed as of right now...at 26 messages. Please continue to write comments for them though so they can read them during the recovery process!]

9:15 PM Update

Emily is doing awesome! The nurse says she has minimal bleeding and that she is doing really well. They may try to excabate her tonight so by morning she should be off the vent. Jason says she is looking great and that the color in her face looks good and her once blueish finger nails now look more like the normal pink that most of us are used to. He is VERY encouraged and believes she is doing wonderfully. She's very alert and aware. As she tried to communicate to Jason (she cannot talk on the vent), she was holding a clipboard in one hand and writing with the other hand and although it was a bit slow and not very neat, it was quite an accomplish for just coming out of a lung transplant surgery! Jason & Emily's friend Eric went in with him and Emily wrote, pointed, and motioned until Jason finally understood she was referring to a past card game called Wizard that they had all played. Although it was not specifically clear what she was saying, they finally figured out she was joking about something and she ended up rolling her eyes at Jason...something she does very well. Sorry Em! :-) It seems like her personality and spirit are shining through despite everything she has been through today.

Jason's parents have been able to see her today and Emily's mom arrives tonight and will be able to see her in the morning. This is possibly the last post until I am able to get to the hospital tomorrow and then find a way to update the blog. In the meantime, please be sure to post comments on the previous post so I can print them off and give them to her tomorrow. Thanks for your continued prayers! ~Emily T

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!