Walking, Talking & Riding in Style

26Feb

Last night, Max brought a beautiful tray of sushi and some miso soup for our late dinner. I left Carman at TGH around 7:30 and joined Max, Jennifer and Danica at the condo. The girls had been busy all day. 

In preparation for Dad’s homecoming, Danica had gotten the tools and products and she and Jennifer cleaned. If it was a flat surface (horizontal or perpendicular) it got scrubbed with TSP and water. If it was acrylic, porcelain or tile, it was scoured to a shine. If it was fabric, it either went in the washer & dryer, or was vacuumed and then moved aside to make room for the carpet to be cleaned. Then, everything was put back in place and the condo aired out. Supper was delicious and everyone was exhausted!

On rounds this morning Dr. B told us that Carman’s white blood cell count was up so he would like to order a bronchoscopy. The team and ORs were all busy but he’d talk to our doctor and see what could be scheduled. He also said Carman was doing very well with his exercise - there’ve been comments among the staff about how often they see him circling the unit - this is a good thing!

Last fall, his friends at McCormick signed a t-shirt and sent it to us with our friend Johnny M. Carman wore the shirt today when he did his walks, so we did a little video for all the folks there, so they could see how well his recovery is progressing.

27Feb

Jess shows up at the door this morning to let us know she is here for a bronchoscopy. Turns out Carman is too, Dr. B had sent word that it was scheduled for 11:45. Jess was very excited to tell us that once again, she’d be first as hers was scheduled at 11:40.

Carman did beat her out on one score though, she had to walk to her appointment, while he was taken in style on a gurney by one of the hospital porters...

Danica impersonating Dad &
Jessica, just being Jess

A bronchoscopy involves the insertion of a viewing tube into either the nose or throat to evaluate the lungs and airways (this can include the voice box and vocal cord, trachea, and branches of bronchi). For transplant patients, the bronchoscopy will usually include biopsy samples of the lung tissue being taken for analysis as well. This will be the case for both Carman and Jess today.

Off for a bronch...

They both did fine!

Dr. R came by around 5:30 to tell us the bronch had gone well but that they wouldn’t have any culture results for a couple of days. Everything looked good and they had done some biopsies as well.

The 2 chest tubes will stay in for now - with the bronch done today, there will likely be some drainage and the right one is still exceeding the daily target of <100ml anyway. While they are inconvenient, they aren’t stopping Carman’s exercise at this point and as they say, easy to take them out, not so easy to put new ones in if needed.

Good news today, the white blood cell count is working its way down.