Transplant: Day 3

It's Saturday afternoon here at Stanford and I thought another update was in order. It's hard to keep track of everything that has happened in the last few days, it has been so action-packed. Maggie only came out of surgery on Wednesday afternoon and yet today, just 3 days later, she took her first walk outside her hospital room. In true Maggie form, she called the shots and told her nurses that even though she was tired and exhausted she wanted to get up and walk. It's the best thing she can do for herself at this stage, to get out of bed and move as much as possible. Recovery, it seems, is not about resting and more about working! She is physically exhausted, if only because it is impossible to get any sleep around here. There is a constant stream of people coming into her room day and night to administer medications, perform chest x-rays, educate us on how to care for her after transplant, and a whole host of other things. It is a lot to take in, but an amazing experience to witness her progress.

As Maggie was walking back into her room today, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and burst into tears. These were tears of pure joy, as she realized that she had just managed to walk without feeling out of breath, for the first time in years. She can't can't come to terms with having somebody else's lungs inside her, her mind has not had a chance to catch up with her body over the last few days. She is so, so thankful for this amazing gift from her donor.

Earlier today, a surgeon came into the room and set about removing some of the tubes coming out of Maggie's chest. These are thick, plastic tubes inserted into her chest at the end of surgery, to allow blood to drain from the lungs. She had 5 tubes in total, 2 for the top of each lung, 2 for the bottom of each lung, and 1 somewhere in the middle. Today, the surgeon removed the top 2 tubes, so there are only 3 remaining. I was recruited as a surgical assistant, my finger was required to hold down some gauze as a lengthy section of tubing was pulled from inside her! These tubes are a source of discomfort as they rub against Maggie's ribs, and yet they are a necessary evil after such major surgery. It will be a lot easier for Maggie to breathe once the remaining tubes are removed, and should allow her to work on expanding her lungs without so much pain. We are told the remaining tubes should be removed in the next day or so.

Another milestone is that she is no longer using oxygen. There was another tearful moment this morning as she noticed her oxygen saturation was at 100% without any oxygen at all. In recent months, she has been tied 24/7 to her oxygen concentrator machine at home, or to oxygen cylinders when leaving the house. It is amazing that she can not only sit in bed with no oxygen, but also walk around. This alone opens up so many possibilities for the future and is quite an emotional feeling.

It has been lovely to receive such wonderful comments of support and encouragement. However, one thing we ask of you is please DO NOT send any flowers, or any food items. With a transplant, Maggie's immune system must be heavily suppressed which makes her a lot more susceptible to infections, colds, etc. Flowers often contain bacteria and so sadly can not be allowed in her hospital room, or even at home when we eventually return. We also have to be careful with certain foods, especially fruit, so again please save your money and don't send any! Encouragement and support is all she needs right now, as she works so hard to make the most of her new lungs.

There is talk of her being discharged in the coming week, which is quite incredible. Of course, we are still taking each day as it comes. We are blessed to be experiencing such fast progress and pray that it will continue. In the meantime, I will try to keep these updates coming.