11/15/09 Update

The latest from my dad:

Well it has been just over 6 weeks since surgery and I am still amazed at my progress and how God continues to bless us and provide as we continue forward in our journey. Thank you each for your continued prayers and expressions of love.

Let me bring you up to date on some recent events. On Friday night, Nov. 6, we were asked to attend an annual service at a local church which is a gathering of donor`s families to pay tribute to them and their loved ones whose organs were donated to save others lives. Each family submits a picture of their loved one who passed away and it is put into a video which was shown at the service. Debbie and I were asked to attend as lung transplant recipients [since I have to wear a mask it shows I have new lungs] to show support to these families. There was about 250 people there and they asked for transplant patients to stand and be recognized and that number was about 15 people. The service was very moving especially when they showed the video. It was 5 weeks to the day since my transplant surgery and seeing pictures of smiling faces of donors who passed away, but through their loss of life, many other lives were saved, of which I am one. That sounds like the story of Jesus dying on the cross for each of us.

This past week started out uneventful, as rehab continued to go well and on Monday afternoon I did my exercising at home and did 3.6 miles in 63 minutes. Boy did that feel good to be able to do. On Tuesday, we had been asked to come to the lung transplant support group meting to share our testimony. It was much different than I expected and was amazed at some of the attitudes of the recipients. After about 45 minutes of just listening and observing, I was asked to introduce Debbie and I to the group. Just before that, a 15 minute discussion took place about the role of the caregiver and I couldn`t believe some of the negative comments, both about the caregivers and how a few of the recepients were stating they were going to live out their lives the way they wanted to, regardless of what their caregiver says. As I introduced us, I then said regardless of what had been said about caregivers, God had blessed me with the best caregiver one could ask for. I proceeded to share about the miracle God had done in my life. Unless I missed something, that was the first mention of faith or God that was made that day. After a 2 minute testimony about our journey, I introduced Debbie and she stated that none of us should take this gift from God for granted and we should all respect and honor our donor and God with how we live out our new life. She spoke for a couple of minutes also and then the group had an annual tradition of honoring the lung transplant patients who have passed away in the past year that were a part of this support group. The chaplain then referred to some of the comments we had made. After leaving, I said to Debbie if not for the opportunity to share our faith with this group, I felt no need to go back to that setting. It was a very diverse group.

On Wed., I had various tests and finished with a bronchoscopy and the the results showed everything was good. That evening we had dinner out with Christy and her family[only our second meal out] and then that night after going to bed, I woke up at 1:45am with a fever and chills. I waited about 15 minutes and woke Debbie up to have her take my temperature. The immediate concern was that a sign of rejection was occuring. The baseline temperature of concern regarding rejection is 100.5 and mine was at 100.4 at first reading, but within 15 minutes it rose to 102.7. Debbie called the hospital and the doctor said it was probably a reaction to the bronchoscopy earlier in the day and to take Tylenol and it should help break the fever. The fever broke about 4 hours later. I have had probably about 12 of the bronchs in the past 6 weeks and never had any reactions to them so we did not realize that a fever was a potential side effect. It was 30 minutes starting at 1:45am in the morning of my mind racing thinking my body was rejecting my new lungs. Thank God again as I was reminded just how blessed I am with my recovery.

Thursday while at an appointment, a nurse asked me why I was at the hospital and how long was I going to be in the area. She had seen on my chart that we were from South Florida. I told her we would be in the Jax. area for another 7 to 8 weeks and she asked why. I briefly told her my "God Story" and she began to ask alot of questions about what I knew about my donor and his family. She had so many questions and I would answer and share about how God had met every need as it arose. She then told me how 6 years ago her 21 year son was killed by a drunk driver while on a motor scooter. His license stated he was an organ donor and the cause of his death was head/brain related injuries. As he was on life support, she was prepared to allow for his organs to be donated but her older daughter resisted and would not allow her brother`s body to be violated and as a result, the mom [the nurse sharing this with me] said things were so overwhelming and everything had happened so quickly, she gave into her daughter`s wishes. She then stated she wishes she could go back and make a different decision and how this is the first time she has said this to anyone. I then told her we all wish we could make different choices in life if given the opportunity, but how she can`t look back and how she should seek God for peace through her journey. She then stated how happy she was for me and how meaningful my conversation with her was and could not believe how healthy I looked. When our conversation first started, I had no idea it would be such a deep conversation, but God obviously wanted to use me to be able to encourage her.

Closing out the week, the big event in my life was missing my first Sheridan House Golf Tournament and Banquet in 25 years. I will start a new streak next year and plan on playing in it. Maybe my new lungs will bring a new golf game!! As has become a weekly tradition, Debbie and I went on-line and watched our service live from Calvary Chapel on Sunday morning. Pastor Bob said all of us should have a "Glory Story" to tell and I think mine qualifies as one of those that when guys get together and try to "one-up" the previous guy`s story, mine would be hard to top. God has been so good and we want to give Him all the glory for what He has and continues to do in our journey.

This has been quite a lengthy update [I shouldn`t wait so long in between] but I share these stories with you to encourage you to know your prayers are working and God is using them in my recovery process and for you to know that Debbie and I are trying to do our part in sharing our faith in God with those we meet.

In closing, I have listed some curent praises and prayer requests.

Praises:
1] Our visit this past week with our daughter Christy, her husband Eric and our 2 grandchildren Nichole[6 years old] and Emily[4 years old]. We had dinner together and the next morning got to spend some time together. It was great to see them all. Debbie bought some stickers and had the girls decorate their masks and they had a good time doing that.
2] We are so blessed to have the Kelly`s having Kylie in their home and for other families assisting them with rides to and from practices, shoulder rehab, games......it`s endless.
3] Again, so blessed to be staying with Mark and Dawn Sonneborn. It is better than one could ask for with location to the Mayo Clinic, the setting where they live, the opportunity to do my exercising in their neighborhood. It`s great.
4] How my story is so different from other lung transplant patients we meet. I have to temper my comments to them because I want to be sensitive to them and their circumstances.
5] How God continues to use us to share our faith and story to so many who God puts in our path.
6] My continued recovery progress and thank God still no signs of rejection. My ability to exercise and the returning of my body regaining strength has been incredible. I only weigh 165 lbs. right now, but doctors have assured us that will come back also in due time.

Prayer Requests:
1] Continue to remember the donor family and their loss and for receipt of the acknowledgement/thank you letter I wrote which has been forwarded to them recently.
2] Continued recovery progress and no rejection issues
3] I still have some discomfort in my left side of my body as a result of the temporary paralysis, but doctors feel confident this will go away in time. Strength wise, my left leg is getting stronger with each workout and you would never know there was an issue.
4] For our daughter Kylie as she goes through this time without Debbie and I being with her, but we are so thankful for quality of friends she has, the teachers, coaches, administrators and pastors who are loving her through this time. Kylie has been going through shoulder rehab, so please pray that as her basketball season starts on monday she doesn`t have any setbacks in her rehab which is still ongoing.
5] Strength for Debbie as she continues to be the best "Care Giver" one could ask for.

Love in Christ,
Rick and Debbie