The Topic of Conversation

19Feb

Carman continued to surprise and awe us over the Family Day weekend - making progress at warp speed! One of our in-patient friends told us today - “you’re the guy all the nurses are talking about...walking off the ICU, speeding around the 7th floor unit...”

He is living (thank you to our Donor) proof, that Physio has a huge impact on a patient’s recovery post-transplant. Even on the days when he didn’t have the energy to get out of bed, he did, and dragged himself to the car, and up to The Treadmill Room. He may have had to stop a few times to rest while doing his 20 minutes on the bike and tread, and sit on the bench to calm his breathing between each of his sets with weights...but he did it!

Touring ICU/ACU

On his last pre-transplant visit to Physio, he and his friend Lyndsay were both having a tough day and looked more like they should be sitting on a hospital bed, than on a workout bench. It is that fortitude (and a lot of bossy from me - aka Attila when at Physio) that has allowed him, to have so much get up and go so quickly after surgery.

Last meal in ACU

Today marked the removal of two of the four chest tubes surgeons placed to help drain fluids, along with him being able to shed the pressure sleeves  that continuously massaged his legs to help prevent blood clots. Now he can wear regular sleep pants with the lovely hospital gowns they provide him with.

Walking is a big part of the day, with tours of both post-transplant units (several times over) now without the need for any oxygen!

One might think that a hospital stay would just be a lot of laying in bed. Not so for the post-transplant patient. Daily physio (at this point, that is the walking) is essential to recovery. It is also important for the patient to be sitting up in a chair, not the bed, for as many hours as they can stand each day. Sitting in a chair gives better posture and allows for more chest expansion which in turn gives the lungs more room. Carman’s days follow, and will continue on, a pattern of activity for the next couple of weeks:

• since he is already taking his meds orally he is awakened thru the night for pain meds (to ensure a continuous benefit and not end up in acute pain)
• 6-7:30 am - up to be weighed, blood & temperature taken and sugar level checked; and nursing shift change
• get settled in the chair (this is a bit of a dance and involves unplugging IV pumps and suction tubes; carefully moving his IV pole & pumps; chest drainage tubes and collection chambers, while ensuring none of his lines gets wrapped around his arms or legs, stepped on or pinched by the chair or IV pole wheels) we then repeat this activity each time he needs to move during the day
• 8:30ish - breakfast is delivered
• once per hour use the incentive spirometer to help deepen breathing and exercise the lungs
• 9 - post-transplant meds are delivered (these must be taken twice daily, within a 15 minute window of yesterday’s doses, to ensure a consistent level in his body at all times)
• 9:30-11 - rounds with the transplant team, discussion on progress and any changes to immuno suppressing meds, pain management and physical routine, etc (sometimes this happens later in the morning, today it was 11); changing dressings and personal hygiene
• 9-11 we fit in a walk
• 12-1 lunch is delivered
• afternoons are for any tests or x-rays ordered by the team, and another walk if Carman is up to it
• 5-6 supper is delivered
• in the evenings the kids are doing 20-30 minute shifts to visit with Dad (there are no visitor chairs in the rooms, so we do this one at a time so as not to disturb his roommate)
• evening walk
• 9:00 - next round of meds and get settled (move person and equipment to the bed) for the night

On the outside looking in...to the Visitor's Lounge
Sun, 17Feb

Bye bye pressure sleeves for the legs
Tues 19Feb

Real sleep pants!
Tues, 19Feb

Visits: At the moment visitors are restricted to family only. This helps reduce traffic on the unit and in patient rooms, as well as control the risk of infection for family members and most importantly for patients who have no resistance to viral or bacterial infections. At this point in their recovery, an infection can be devastating - every day is about striking a balance between the body’s efforts to fight illness and not fighting the very organs that have given the patient new life.

Flowers: Of note also is that flowers are not permitted on the transplant units - a vase of cut flowers is an aquarium for bacteria, and potted plants carry bacteria in the soil - both dangerous for post-transplant patients. 

We’ve had a few friends inquire about sending flowers to Carman. After discussing this, we would first like to say thank you - your support is truly encouraging and appreciated. We ask those wishing to make any such expression of “Get Well Soon” to please consider a  donation  to either the Organ Donor Registration Awareness Program or the Transplant Program at the hospital that serves your province or state. This will not only honour the gift of donation that Carman has received but also help provide the same miracle for others.

I’d like to thank each of you who have sent notes, messages and emails and want to assure you that we will respond to each of you in time. At the moment our focus is on Carman’s recovery and we haven’t been able to read all of the emails yet, nor have we been on Facebook. We have made a conscious effort to make no public posts specific to his surgery. When Carman is ready, he will do his own Facebook post - it is his miracle to share. We absolutely love the private message posts - he started reading a few of them last night.

Now, I must sleep - for tomorrow will bring more exciting developments...