First Week Home - Part 2

07Mar - Thurs - Physio Finale for Jess

Our day starts with breakfast out. They are doing repairs to the plumbing in our condo building today, so the water will be shut off between 9am and 4pm. We prepare some extra bottles and jugs of water to have on hand and decide to head to The Blake House for brunch. Many thanks to Jim and his staff for accommodating us with selections from the lunch menu, a couple of special order breakfast dishes, and for getting us in and out before the lunch crowd even arrived!

Left - Dad, me, Paula and Carman & Mom on the right

After brunch we return home to gather Carman’s gear for the Treadmill Room, while Dad, Mom & Paula collect their bags and summon a cab to head to the airport for their return home. Our short visit has come to an end...we’ve had them here for about 3 days and have been at the hospital all day every day. Our visits were confined to the evening but we managed to get in a couple of card games, a dinner of Mom’s great cooking (supervised by Paula) and some of her home baking (sampled by Paula on the way from the oven to the containers).

Today is a bittersweet day in The Treadmill Room - the last physio session in which the Squat Squad will be together. Yes, Jessica is in the preparatory stages of heading home to Nova Scotia and today marks her last day to work out with the Squad and Carman’s third day of being a Green Card holder!

Jessica, Mark & Carman - peddling so fast -
their colourful kicks are blurred!

All patients working in the Treadmill Room, have a personal card that outlines their program. Pre-transplant patients have a yellow card while post-transplant patients use a green card (the program is slightly altered for post-transplant so it isn’t just the colour that’s different).

 

I don't know why they look at the
menu board, they always order
the same thing!

Our Squad does an excellent workout and while Mark and his daughter Jessica must get on the road home before rush hour, our Jessica and Carman head for their java treat at, you guessed it...Starbucks! This adventure is prefaced by one more ride down the ramp on the Rollator.

08Mar - Fri - Muscle Study Follow-up

Today we must return to TGH for blood work, as a follow-up to changes in Carman's medication dosage. We like to arrive before 8 to beat the rush and avoid a crowded waiting room. This is followed by a Tim's breakfast sandwich, then meds. When the phone alarm goes off to indicate it's Med time, Carman retrieves his med bag. Without looking up, he asks, could you pass me the drink I brought to take my meds with...you can tell from this photo of where it was sitting, he has definitely become a-look-after-me diva. It's well within his reach, and the man eyes are still working!

Mid-moring, Carman has his first post-op appointment with Polyana for the Muscle Study he is participating in. 

It’s a beautiful day, and we have lots of time so we decide to take the Rollator for a walk to the UofT lab where Polyana works (just two blocks south of where we are). While chatting and waiting for the walk light at Gerrard and University, we hear the telltale sound of squealing tires and boom of a fender-bender. A van and taxi cab have met in the intersection. The van pulls to the median curb but the cab is going nowhere...bleeding fluids onto the street, driver side front tire askew and airbag deployed. Point of contact was front left fender and this cab is out of commission. The passenger gets out looking dazed. I get Carman to the median and head over to see how everyone is doing. The driver of the van says he is fine, the cab’s passenger is trying to make a call on her cell, while her cheek begins to swell to the size of a tennis ball (contact with the passenger door). A couple of students, out for a run, come over as well, and I ask one of them to call 911. The cabbie is conscious, tells me his name and the date when I ask and requests that I open the door. The charge from the deployed airbag has left the car filled with acrid smoke. I try the door, but the impact has crimped the hinge edge and I don’t have enough umph to yank it open. I head around to the passenger side and open the door to get some fresh air in. This hasn’t taken long, but by now the friendly Toronto drivers are all honking “hello, what’s the hold-up here?”

I call the cab company to let them know what has happened, that the cabbie is chatting with me but his car will be out of commission. The dispatcher is very concerned for him but I assure her we’ve called EMS and he agrees to call her later to let her know how he is doing. EMS arrive as I finish the call and fight their way with firetrucks and ambulance through the congested intersection - calling forth more friendly honking of course.

One of the firemen walk up to the car, and without breaking a sweat yanks open the door - cool! The paramedics help the cabbie out of the vehicle and over to the median. I give him my number, retrieve his phone and pager from the car for him and tell him I have to leave. He agrees to call me later, (which he did around 8:30 pm to let me know he and his passenger were checked out at the hospital and sent home).

I rejoin Carman on the sidewalk and we continue on our way, arriving right on time to meet with Polyana. 

Ultra sound of Carman's thigh muscle

Once settled, she takes ultra-sound pictures of Carman’s thigh and arm muscles and conducts resistance tests to measure the level of deterioration during his hospital stay. Because he was so faithful to his Physio regimen (even on the days when it was difficult just to get out of bed, Carman went to The Treadmill Room and did his program) Carman was up and walking the day after his surgery and by the time he was discharged from hospital 15 days post-transplant, he was consistently walking 5 laps per trip and 5 trips around the unit and corridor each day. 

one of those tough days
Jess offers comfort
June supervisoes

Muscle loss is measured by the muscular force output during a repetition. To execute these repetitions he is strapped into a high-tech chair which applies resistance when he tries to complete a rep. For the leg, he is pressing upward (away) against the machine’s resistance while his lower leg is restrained. His Peak Torque measurements were as follows:

         Nov12 Pre-transplant vs Mar13 Post-transplant

Right Knee (away)     171.9 vs 141.5

Right Ankle (away)      51.4 vs   48.7

Right Ankle (toward)    25.0 vs  19.7

Right Elbow (toward)   43.9 vs  42.2

  

 

He also completes the endurance test and in spite of my suggestion doesn’t think it necessary to take any pain medication, not even Tylenol before doing this last test. Mr. He-man goes the full distance on the endurance test (because he did that before surgery) and by the time we get home, is in pain along the full length of his incision. Skip the Tylenol, this one is going to need the hydro-morph!

Mission accomplished
the team strikes a pose

 

Remember this one? He went all the
way to the top level with
the weighted bar!