Post Op: Days 3 and 4

Ok, so the days have been blending together and I can't exactly remember what happened which day, but here's a recap of the past 2 days.

Tuesday morning I walked with Sam to the hospital after breakfast and a quick workout (they might be short, but I haven't missed a day, in case any of my clients are wondering). Around lunchtime a Brian, a transplant coordinator, came to speak with Rachel and I about adjusting to life at home. There are a lot of things were are going to have to be careful about since Rach will basically be operation without an immune system from the anti-rejection medications, but he kept stressing how much better her life was going to be now. He was very encouraging and did a great job of teaching us how to keep Rachel healthy, but not go crazy trying to do so.

A few hours later my parents and younger sister Bethany came down to visit. They brought me some things we needed from home, along with some gifts for Rach. After talking to us for a while, I took them for a mini tour of the historic part of Hopkins (this place is starting to feel like second home already). After visiting with Rachel some more, I took my family downstairs to the cafe area for dinner.  The visit was great for the both of us. Having the support from my family is amazing. They never once tried to discourage me from being in a relationship that they knew was going to have its difficulties. They also think the same thing about Rachel that I do: her disease does not define her.

Rachel did great with her walking, doing 4 total laps around the floor she's admitted on. All of her doctors continue to express their amazement at how quickly she's recovering. Also this morning another small chest tube was taken out. The tubes drain the excess fluid off from around her lungs. This is something that most people's bodies normally take care of, but Rachel's need to at a faster rate so that her lungs can attach themselves to the inside of her chest cavity.

Her family (Sam, Karen, Mary, and Peter) were around for most of the day, but headed back to the hotel around 7. Later watched "The Biggest Loser" together, a weekly tradition we have. After the show ended we tried to get to sleep, but Rachel's IV machines and her nurses had different ideas. We both hardly slept at all between the beeping and the nurses running around us. Around 2am I felt a hand on my shoulder and heard someone say "Wake up Jonny. Come on, man, you've gotta leave."Apparently I was sleeping well enough for it to take a good bit of shaking to get me up. It was the respiratory therapist who had come in to start an inhaled medication that only Rachel can be in the room for due to her strain of bacteria related to CF (there's still some in her upper respiratory tract). After waiting out in the hall for 20 minutes I came back in and tried to sleep a little more. Being awake to listen to the deep breaths of my wife sleeping made it worth it though.

Yesterday (Wednesday) morning I got up, visited with Rachel for a while, then caught a ride back to the hotel with Sam when he dropped Karen off at the hospital. Back at the hotel I worked out while Mary and Peter packed up to head back to where they live in Boston. Having my "sister and brother" there throughout all of this was incredible. They did so much to help all of us out. Even them just being around helped. We can't wait until we get to visit them later this year as I compete in the Spartan Race (a crazy 3+ mile obstacle course) near where they live and Rachel can visit her sister. Sam left to take them airport while I hung out in the hotel room until he got back. Once he got back we headed over to the hospital.

We found out when we got there that the chest tube that was taken out Tuesday might have to go back in. It was starting to come out, so they took it the rest of the way out, but apparently when it was coming out it was causing a mild pneumothorax (air inside your chest cavity that does not allow your lungs to expand completely) and was not allowing Rachel's lungs to adhere to her chest wall. There was talk about putting the chest tube back in, but apparently the problem was so mild that it will correct itself, as the tube was not put back in as of this morning (Thursday).

Around lunchtime Brian from the transplant team met with us again, this time with Karen joining us. We reviewed what we talked about Tuesday and he answered any other questions we had. He cleared up a lot about traveling, being around kids, cleaning our apartment, being in public, and exercise (all of which I can't wait to help with). It was another encouraging meeting for Rachel, Karen, and I since a few of the transplant people we've met with before made having new lungs seem just as bad as CF lungs (which couldn't be further from the truth).

In the afternoon Rachel did 3 full laps around the floor! She's felt pretty tired all day, and didn't walk any more after that, but she still did amazing. Later we sat on the hospital bed together and watched "American Idol." Rach fell asleep a few minutes into it, and I wished I could have too...it was pretty bad.  After saying goodnight to her and Karen (who stayed the night with her) I caught a cab back to the hotel (I seriously typed "home" at first) and had the best night of sleep I've had since we've been down here.

I called Karen this morning to check on Rachel. They didn't get too much sleep last night, but Rachel's feeling good already this morning. Pray that she has the energy to walk more today, as she needs to be able to walk up stairs before we can leave. Also pray that her last chest tube will be able to come out, and that she'll ace tomorrow's retaking of the swallow test so she can have her precious Mountain Dew...