Monday Evening-Surprise!!!!

Hi everyone!
Amazing day! I got to the hospital this morning and the nurse had already told Jennifer that she was being discharged today. The Dr. on the floor came in and said that they were discussing Jennifer in the meeting and said she could go home, but didn't say home, as in hotel, or home, home as in West Chester.
We made a few jokes about it but continued to sit in the room. It was 1:30 and I had not eaten lunch, so decided to go down to the cafeteria to see what special foods they had for today. As I left the wing that Jennifer was in, I ran into KeLynn, the nurse coordinator for the post-transplant and she said we were going home to West Chester. I love that lady! lol She is actually a lovely person and I really do like her, but was thrilled that we were going home. I went downstairs to call Danny, my brother, to let him know that he shouldn't rent a car to come to Cleveland, since we were on our way home! He was in Columbus delivering a load, so told him I would swing by to let him see Jennifer and of course, I wanted to see him too. We spent about 45 minutes to an hour with him, he checked my oil in the car and noticed I was 2 1/2 quarts low. Of course, I got the look over his glasses, like "I thought I taught you better than this" look and said we needed to get oil.

We went to buy oil, we visited for a while and then he had to move down the road to get another load for S. Carolina. We followed him to I-71 and got on the expressway and headed to West Chester. We arrived a little before 9, turning the corner down our street and the whole neighborhood was standing in our driveway all the way into the street. How awesome. I stopped the car at the corner, just shocked, Jennifer and I sat in the car, crying! What an amazing group of friends we have!!!!
There were posters, smiles, hugs and congratulations from everyone.
Jennifer came into the house, afraid to be outside too long. I of course, stood outside talking to everyone and just enjoying everyone being outside and the amazing group of friends and support we have.
So, we've made it back home and so happy to be here. Jack has snubbed Jennifer, but sure he will get over it. Sam has acted like a puppy, turning and running, but can't see. Kelly was crying and excited that we were home, all together again and Ray was just doing his thing, content that we are all home.
We have an appointment on March 24, so she will go back, where they will do the angiogram and not sure if another bronch is part of this or not, but another visit to Dr. Budev. I'm sure that Jennifer and I will sleep well in our own beds tonight. We are beyond thrilled to be home, especially in this wonderful neighborhood with all the wonderful friends that we have. It was truly a moment that we will never forget! And we're HOME!!!!!!
Love to all!
Becky and Jennifer

Lazy Sundays

It's been rainy all day here in Cleveland - perfect nap weather. Cameron and Daddy left about mid-afternoon and Mom and I hung out in my room working on craft things that we brought. She has a tablecloth she's embroidering and I have an angel cross-stitch that has taken over 4 years to complete. Wouldn't want to rush into things :)

Nothing major to report on with health things right now... finally! My INR (international normalized ratio - measures clotting time) is a little low to come off the IV heparin but they aren't sure what to do right now. Whether to increase the Coumadin or to leave things be so that I would be able to have the angio tomorrow. Dr. Hogan and Dr. Yun both came by today and agreed that it would be better to hold off on the angio right now. There's no hurry, it's just a confirmation that the BAR is working. They are pretty sure it is because they keep saying my recovery has been remarkable - tee hee :) Also my Creatine (measures kidney function) has been creeping up. They aren't worried about it and said actually my function is going in this tidal wave. The ideal number is 1.0 and mine is 1.5 - hopefully as my body gets use to all of the meds things will settle. So with this increase in my creatine, they are even more inclined to hold off on the angio since the dye is filtered through the kidneys.

Right now we're just waiting on the biopsy results to come back and for the selection committee to discuss when I can come home finally. Mom and I are so horribly homesick right now. We talk about our dogs and our comfy couch a lot :) This Friday will mark 4 weeks since I've been here. As much as we love this town, it's about time to get out of here!! Oh well, it's in God's time, right?

Saturday Night

Dr. Yun came in this afternoon and drained 600cc of fluid off her left lung. Her said the right lung had a small amount of fluid, but wasn't impressive, so he said it was less than before and would eventually absorb into her body. When he numbed her back, that was the part that didn't feel good. We've asked her if she could breathe better, but she said she couldn't tell the difference. The Dr. said that she has done remarkable with the transplant and was impressed. He said that the reason behind the fluid was that when they do the BAR process, they cut through lymphatic system and the extra fluid wouldn't be re-absorbed.
We went outside on the 9th floor and walked around. The sun even came out for the time we were up there. Cameron took pictures of her and her daddy and then her alone. She hates having her pictures taken, but obliged us with a few. lol
I did ask the nurse why she was running a slight fever and she said that it was because she wouldn't get out of bed, so therefore, that is why we walked around. I know she is glad the tapping of the lung is done and over with. She loves her Dr., but really dreaded having the draining process done. He was planning on scheduling the angiogram either Monday or Tuesday and she should be released from the hospital on Wed. Not sure when we see Dr. Budev again, she did say that she would stop by while she was in the hospital. Im sure we need an office visit before getting our walking papers though. So overall, not a bad day. Would rather have nothing going wrong, but this is ok.

Becky and Jennifer

Saturday

Jennifer is tired today and running a little bit of a temperature. The surgeon is coming in to tap her left lung today, but had to wait 3 hours after the heperin had been stopped. Not sure what the temp. is about, just a little bit, but would rather her not have one at all. Ray is on his way up and should be here within 30 minutes. Cameron came up last night, slept on the pull out here in her room. Kelly is at dance until 4 this afternoon, so she won't be able to come up this weekend. She wants me home, but I just don't want to leave right now, until I'm comfortable with her being here with Ray. Other than that, just a slow day. The weather is warm, 60 degrees, but cloudy and sprinkling, so a good day to sleep. I will post when we have new information. Thanks for everyone posting! It makes me laugh and know that everyone is still here with us!
Love to all!
Becky and Jennifer

Friday Afternoon

The bronch is over and she's sleeping. She keeps waking up, asking how it went and wants to see the pictures of the bronch. She keeps saying her new lungs are so pink compared to the old ones being a grayish color. The Dr. said that it all went well and it would take three days for the biopsy report to come back to show if there is any rejection. Hopefully, that isn't an issue.
I think he said that her heperin level is good so he can switch her to the cumadin pills later today or tomorrow. That was faster than the original 5 days we were told.
I had talked to Lois last night and found out that there were clotting issues on the Buescher side, told the Dr. and he said that still was ok. Not the issue with Jennifer, but would run the tests to see if she had the same thing with the clotting factor, but still not related to how they are treating the clots here. They said her clots were because of the iv's they had done. Jennifer brought up the point that they don't use heperin to flush the iv's and wondered if that was part of the issue. Good point, but I forgot to ask the Dr. Hopefully, he will be back in and we can bring that up.
She looks great and says she feels like she's sleeping off a hangover. Not sure how she would know that! hehehe
That's all the news I have, so thought I would pass the word along to everyone and will post again when we have something different.
Love to all!
Becky