The Surgery

After we got the call from Hopkins, we finished driving home and put away the groceries we had just bought. While we waiting for Rachel's parents to get to our house to pick us up, we frantically packed up anything else we thought we'd need besides our pre-packed "transplant bag" of clothes. We left around 9:15 Friday night and drove down to Baltimore with Sam and Karen. When we got there we checked in and Rachel was sent up to cardiac ICU to get settled in a room. Her parents and I waited for an hour while the staff got her into the room and set up on some IV's. By midnight we were able to go back in a be with her. After visiting for a while her, Sam and Karen went to the waiting room to sleep on the less-than-comfortable chairs. I was lucky enough to get to share the hospital bed with my wife. it's times like that we thank God that were both such small people... Needless to say I didn't really sleep, but rachel did get some rest. During this time the doctors were at a different hospital, performing more tests on the donor lungs to make sure they were a perfect match.

All this time too Rachel's sister, Mary, and her husband Peter were trying to get a quick plane out of Boston to see her before the surgery. By the grace of God a flight was delayed and they were able to board one leaving around midnight and got to the hospital around 2:30 or 3am. Rach and I spent some time with them and her parents in the morning before the doctors came in to take her back for surgery.

After going through some final consent forms and reminding us of what the next 24-48 hours had in store for us, they came to take her in. I held her hand walking down the narrow hallways leading to the operating room. The anesthesiologist who was helping to push the bed said "I've got it from here" but I would let her go. We walked past the waiting room where Rachel's family was and the doctors stopped for all of us to kiss her and sent her off for the surgery. Anyone who's had to watch someone they love go in for a surgery knows this feeling; the helplessness of not being there, but the hopefulness of knowing what's in store, and Who's taking care of her.

About an hour later one of my best friends Jonathan Ellis showed up. Jonathan lives in North Carolina and drove up all night to be there to wait with me. An hour and a half later the doctors informed us that they had "made the incision." This meant that the lungs were close by and we were close to the time of the actual transplant. Shortly after this my parents and two sisters got there to wait with us, and not too long after, another one of my best friends Nathaniel Gayle arrived. Jonathan E., Nathaniel, and I had grown up together and having them and my family there with me was incredible. While standing out in the hallway Nathaniel pointed out a wheelchair being rolled past with several boxes on it labeled "Human Tissue" and he saw the one box labeled "Lungs." They were here.

A half hour later we got the confirmation call to the waiting room that the lungs were here. Just after lunch the nurse overseeing the waiting room called back for a check in on Rachel's status. Her report? "The lungs have been placed and are about to be sewn in." By now I was having a bit of an out of body experience due to the stress and lack of sleep, but this still gave me a renewed since of hope for the outcome. We continued to wait in the room, which was starting to look like a family reunion with all of us huddled together praying for Rachel and sharing humorous stories from growing up to ease the tension in the waiting area. As per Rachel's request I posted facebook updates to keep all of our friends updated on her status and what to pray for. Every time I posted I'd see tons of comments from people letting us know they were praying. I know our story has been followed by a lot of people, but I had no idea this many people were touched by Rachel's and my journey.

Before long Dr. Shah (the transplant doctor) came in to tell us that the lungs were in, and they had finished the surgery. He said that the new lungs were "gorgeous" and the old ones were "crappy, and now gone." He explained what was going to be happening next, then told us to watch for Rachel as she passed by our area on her way back to ICU. 10 minutes and lots of tears later my baby came down the hallway with her new lungs. A ventilator was breathing for her, but I knew she'd be doing in on her own before long. So 7-8 hours from the time she was taken back, it was finished and a huge success so far.

After an hour I was allowed to go back to ICU to see her. She was still asleep, but doing great. My family and friends headed home around this time. Rachel's sister and I went back to see Rachel again and as we talked to her, she would nod her head to acknowledge that she heard us, it was amazing. We let her rest as Rachel's family and I went to check in to a hotel to take a shower. During this time the doctors started weaning Rachel off the anesthesia  and put in an epidural. They were trying to wake her up to make sure that she was responsive and no blood clots had gone to her brain. When we got back to the hospital at 8:15pm we went up to see her again. She was awake, but still couldn't move much at all. She couldn't move her head, but she began hitting her hand on the bed to get us to look at it, she pointed back at me and made a walking motion with her fingers for me to walk to the other side of the bed so she could see me. When I got there she signed into my hand "I love you." I lost it. It was like hearing her say it for the first time. She continued to sign using fingerspelling to talk to her parents and me, saying that she was thirsty, and that no one is allowed to talk about Mountain Dew, haha. Her dad and I were holding her hands when she started to sign something. I was saying her letters out loud since I couldn't tell what she was saying. Finally we figured it out. "I need three hands." She wanted to feel her mom's hand as well. It was like something out of a movie. Up there with our wedding, that moment with her signing like that was the one of the greatest moments in my life. We let her rest, then went down to a pediatric waiting area that has some benches and slept there for the night. At 1:30am this morning I got a cell call from the nurse that they had taken the breathing tube out and Rachel she was breathing on her own. We rushed up to see her, thew on all of the gloves, masks, and gowns and went in. She was awake and able to talk. She said that she's not in a lot of pain, but a little uncomfortable from one of the pain meds. Rachel also said that taking her first breaths on her own were terrifying, since she couldn't actually feel the air going into her lungs. They're working great though, and Rachel is doing incredible. The doctors not only think that the new lungs are perfect, they even said that this is probably the best transplant they've seen at Hopkins.

Sorry if this post is lacking in any details, I'm still a little sleep deprived and anxious to see my wife again. Keep checking my facebook for quicker updates and I'll post another blog soon too.

Continue praying as Rachel faces another hurdle today: the swallow test. She has to relearn to swallow liquids just like she had to relearn to breathe. Pray that all goes well and she can get back to chugging Mountain Dews before too long...

God is good.

- Jonny