Neil's Transplant Surgery and Recovery

Thursday, April 12:   Thank you all for your prayers, messages of support and encouragement, and good wishes.  Neil and I have experienced a profound sense of love and care and Divine presence through the many ways you have offered these to us.  Thank you.

The story in a nutshell:

Neil had a double lung transplant Wednesday, April 11 at the University Hospital, San Antonio, TX.  The transplant went very well, though of course, there were some surprises.  One was that his right lung had gotten so large (due to disease process, scar tissue, etc) that it somehow adhered to his right rib cage.  This meant the surgeon had to scrape his right lung from his rib cage to remove it.  Because of this, he had some additional bleeding, lots of additional pain, and probably some things I don't know about, but the task was accomplished.  Apparently the left lung was much easier to extract.

He went to the transplant ICU Thursday morning about 1:00 am.  By 6:00 am he was awake and responding appropriately to commands.  By 10 he was motioning that he really wanted the ventilator withdrawn.  Standard procedure is that a double lung transplant patient stay on the ventilator at least 24 hours.  Neil was doing so well that they removed it by 2 pm this afternoon.  By 4, he was sitting up in a chair, which he did for about 2 hours.

Naturally he hurts, is confused and forgetful, and goes to sleep easily. But when I left tonight about 9, he was not even on oxygen, and his oxygen saturation level was at 93%.  Unbelievable!

I don't know how many surgeons, anesthesiologists, respiratory therapists, cardiologists, pulmonologists, residents, fellows, interns, students of every kind, and incredible transplant nurses we've met, and they are all amazed at how well he is doing (and at his determination).  If all goes well tonight, he will probably be moved out of ICU Friday and into a regular transplant hospital room.

When the surgeon visited with me Wednesday night, he said, "His lungs were a mess! They needed to be replaced."  We are so grateful for the gift of life Neil's received and know it's because of the death of someone else.  We hold the family of the donor in our prayers as they grieve and give thanks that in their pain and trauma, they shared life with us.

We appreciate your continued thoughts, prayers, good wishes, hugs, and all the other ways you are holding us close.

With love and appreciation,
Karen