Post Op: Day 6

I woke up at 4 yesterday (Friday) morning, wide awake. The noise of hospital mixed with the weirdness of sleeping in a chair makes for difficult rest. I put in my headphones and listened to almost the entire Mumford and Sons album while watching and thinking about Rachel. I don't think I've known a braver person. Think about what she did a week ago: she said goodbye to me in the hallway before her surgery, went into the operating room, put on an anesthesia mask, and closed her eyes knowing what was about to happen and the risks involved. That is pure fearlessness perfectly exemplified. I went back to sleep at 5 and got up around 7. Soon Karen arrived and I went back to the hotel.

While I was there Karen visited with Rachel, who was not allowed to eat or drink anything after midnight since she was having a bronchoscopy the next day. Sam and his brother Bob arrived were there visiting when I got back to the hospital and we talked with Rachel about all the amazing things she's going to get to do once she's home and feeling better. At 1pm her nurse and I went with Rachel down to the endoscopy area for her "bronch." I went back upstairs and watched soccer until she came back up an hour and a half later. The bronch only took about ten minutes, but they had to put her out for it, and give her time to wake up afterwards. During the procedure, they inserted a tube down her throat and into her lungs. They looked inside to make sure all of the internal stitching was holding, and then vacuumed out any junk Rachel isn't able to cough up or her body dispose of. She'll have these bronchs every week for a while, then progressively less frequently has she heals. In the morning Brian from the transplant team told us that she'll definitely be home by Tuesday, and possibly Monday! The average time for lung transplant patients is 2 weeks, if we're here until Tuesday that will be 10 days. Rachel is doing phenomenally well with her recovery.

In the afternoon we had some issues with her blood sugar, as the high doses of steroids that she's on is causing her blood sugar levels to spike frequently. Of course, the celebratory Mountain Dew Sam got Rachel after her bronch probably didn't help...
Yesterday evening Rachel decided that she wanted to go for a walk with me around the floor again. This time she didn't have to hold on to her rolling IV pole (which I pushed) as she walked. She did 8 laps before going back to her room! I stepped it off right after that and estimated that she had gone over 300 yards! Today (Saturday) she wants to try for 10. She's already gotten in 5 this morning. She's incredible. Here this girl is, 6 days out of having a double lung transplant and she's already getting more exercise than the average American...haha. Once we're home she's going to start going to a pulmonary rehab facility to exercise in a controlled environment. There they'll be able to monitor her vitals while she walks, rides stationary bikes, and does light resistance training. After she's finished there I'll work with the physical therapists on an appropriate exercise plan to continue with. I can't wait...

Last night I watched the Food network with Rach like we love to do at home. I said goodnight to her at 9:30 and took a cab back to the hotel. Karen stayed with her for the night so I could get some sleep in a real bed.