13Feb
At 5:22 the fire alarm goes off in our condo building...it is 5 minutes before we are told it was triggered in the parking garage, firefighters have responded and are investigating. I fill an extra stroller in case we need to evacuate, then picture the mess in the garage if there really is a fire, and its anywhere near our vehicle, and am thankful its oxygen tank-refill day - if things go south, at least there won't be a full tank of liquid O2 in the mix!
After about 25 minutes, we are told all is clear, it was a false alarm. Carman has sleep (not so peacefully) through this, but I am well up now, so decide to start some laundry and get on with my day.
At 12:56pm we received a call from the TGH Transplant Program - they may have lungs for Carman! I wake him to take the call. The coordinator has a few questions for him regarding his health today - no fever, symptoms of cold or flu, etc. When he replies to the negative, she asks if we can report to Pre-Admitting at the hospital within the next 90 minutes.
We have time for him to take a shower, have some tea or light soup and then arrive for a possible date with our future!
Just moments before we are ready to open the door and leave, Omar arrives to do our tank refills. He is overjoyed at our news, we have hugs all around and he assures us he will do the tanks and lock everything up, then leave the keys with our concierge for Danica to pick up when she arrives. Omar's service has been our lifeline and he has become our friend!
What follows is more waiting of course. We check in at pre-admitting around 2:30, then head to X-ray but they don’t have the order in the system yet, so we go to the Transplant floor to report in at the Nurse’s Station. In short order, we are ushered to the Transplant Work-up room, where Carman is assigned to a chair by the window (a reclining dialysis chair, so at least he will be able to nap in the hours to come). During the next few hours the nurse returns a few times to do his intake information; administer meds, insert IV ports and then the porter arrives to take him for that X-ray.
Jess & Lindsay arrive shortly after and take turns giving Carman big hugs of congratulations. Jess is so excited...it is exactly 2 months since she got her call and received new lungs! A few minutes later Carman asks me what flow level of oxygen I’ve set on the wall spigot... “What am I on right now?” I notice his nail beds are bluer than usual and he is starting to look a bit blue around the mouth then look at the wall and reply “Right, now, nothing!” In all the hugging frenzy, his tubing has been pulled from the spigot! We hook him back up and he recovers quickly, so he can then accuse the gurls of loving him to death....
Danica arrives at about 5:30, then Jen, and Max at bit later in the evening. Kyle will fly in tomorrow - he is out of the country attending training for work.
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| Danica, Me, Carman & Jennifer |
For now, our little group will chat quietly and pass the times as best we can, while we wait to see if donor lungs are in good health and can be gifted to Carman...we are told there is an OR booked for 9am tomorrow, but won't hear more - or know if the lungs will be suitable for transplant - until minutes before that...
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| lots of tests to prep |
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| A stretcher for the night and we hope the ribcage T will ensure proper placement! |
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