The following is my dad's update and I will follow behind what he said and not put my two cents mixed in with his bit. So, happy reading and look forward to hearing from me at the end:) ~Christy
Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years Celebration came early early for me this year! In early October, while in the hospital following transplant surgery, Debbie asked me if I was going to write a Christmas letter this year. My response was that in anticipation of writing periodic updates once out of the hospital, each update would be like an acknowledgment of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Celebration for the Gift of Life that God had provided. I have been anxiously waiting on tests results to be reviewed with Debbie and I prior to this writing. Bottom line, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Celebration again was all wrapped in one as Dr. Erasmus met with us late Monday afternoon to share that both bacteria have been cleared from my lungs and the lung function test results revealed the lungs continue to strenghten and as of last Thursday, I had a lung function rating of 93%. The normal range is considered to be anywhere from 80 to 100%. The Miracle fom God continues!!!
Speaking of Thanksgiving, Debbie and I had a busy but great week leading up to Thanksgiving as we had some time with all of our kids and grandkids being together for a portion of that week. We all traveled to Debbies`s parents on Thursday morning and spent the day there with family and returned back to Jacksonville that night. On Friday, we again took a day trip to visit with Debbie`s brother and his family for the afternoon. It was great to see them and Debbie`s parents and Uncle Bill traveled with us as well. It was a great week that went by very quickly and as Ricky, Christy, Eric, Nichole, Emily and Kylie all left on Friday morning within an hour of each other and once home from our day trip to visit with Debbie`s brother Steve, his wife Marie and sons Tyler and Alex, our home away from home got very quiet that night as Mark and Dawn were out of town as well.
On Saturday following Thanksgiving, I achieved 2 new milestones in my recovery. One was that I was able to wash a car without the use of oxygen for the first time in at least a year [I wore protective gloves] and the second was that I went and exercised that afternoon and it being 8 weeks and 1 day since surgery, my goal was to exceed a distance that I had already accomplished since surgery. I was able to do 4 miles in just under 59 minutes for which I was very pleased with. My previous best distance mark since transplant was 3.6 miles. I again only share these bits of information to illustrate how God has blessed me and not to boast about myself. Most times as I am concluding my exercise, I try to say a prayer of gratefulness for the Mathews Family, which is the family name I have given to my donor`s family for the gift they gave me. [the name Mathew means "Gift of God"]. As of December 7, we have still not heard back from this family, but we were told that if we wished to write them a letter for Christmas, the hospital would again review it for approval and forward it to them. I will be doing that as we are so grateful and thankful to them and will balance my new lease on life in exchange for the loss of their loved ones life as I write to them.
My Re-hab continues to go extremely well as I will now return to my regular Re-hab class with fellow lung transplant patients since my lungs are free of the one particular bacteria that could pose a threat to their health. On last Wednesday, I had to do a 6 minute walk test that is used to measure how far you can walk in 6 minutes, what your oxygen and heart rate levels go to at each one minute interval and the results again were very good. I had mixed emotions as I did this test though because it is done in the Re-hab Center itself, which means the other Pre-lung transplant candidates who are there to try and strengthen their bodies while awaiting their call for lungs were there doing their work-outs at the same time. One lady yelled out "it`s obvious he has new lungs" and she was giving the exercise therapist a hard time about her having to keep up with me as I walked and was questioning the exercise therapist need for supplemental oxygen to keep up with me. That particular lady`s comments encouraged me in that it made me feel like she was happy for me and I wasn`t there to discourage them. I have had the opportunity to speak to some of the individuals in that class to encourage them in their journey as they travel a difficult road at this time. God continues to use these and other circumstances to remind me [not that I forget] of how blessed I am.
Closing out Thanksgiving weekend on Sunday was our worship on-line watching the 10:15am service from our church in South Florida as we again were blessed by being able to feel apart of what is so important in our lives. We [meaning Mark and I] spent the afternoon taking in some of the football games on TV.
Last week was a little different from the past in that I sent Debbie home for a 3 day break from all that she has been doing here as my care-giver to allow her to be a part of Kylie`s life for a couple of days in South Florida. She got to get back into some of her mom and coaching duties which she misses so much. Everything worked out just fine as she was away on her short visit back home. It was totally my idea that she fought but I know she was glad to have had the opportunity to be back home even for just a short time. She returned on Wednesday and the next day is when I had my tests done which the results all just came back yesterday with great results as I mentioned at the top of the up-date.
Before closing with some prayer requests/praises, I am excited to share one more thing that Dr. Erasmus shared with us during our consultation late yesterday afternoon. He told us a result of how well my recovery is going and the positive results from last weeks tests, he sees no reason that we would not be able to be released to go home before Christmas and that I would only need to return the first part of the week in January for my first set of lung transplant follow-up visits. This is obviously based upon no set-backs occurring, but this news was so encouraging and it is so hard to fathom how far we have come in the past 9 weeks and 3 days since my double lung transplant surgery. Even Dr. Erasmus asked how long has it been since surgery and when I responded with 9 weeks and 3 days he just got the biggest smile on his face. Even as we arrived at the Mayo Clinic yesterday for our consultation and before receiving all this great news, as we walked through those same doors we walked through in Mid-September to be told you only have 6 months to survive without new lungs and to then walk through those same doors yesterday, less than 4 months since Mid-September, I feel greater than I could have ever imagined, dreamed of or conceived. God has been so good to me through this entire journey. It is such a Miracle!!
Prayer Requests:
1] The Mathews Family [my donor`s family] as they continue to deal with their loss of a loved one.
2] Continued recovery process
3] My life be used for God`s Glory through this journey and that I honor my donor and my God through how I live my life out daily.
4] For all families who have lost loved ones this past year and who are experiencing their own health challenges.
5] That as we leave to go home, we don`t miss the opportunities to share our faith we those God puts before us here in the Jacksonville setting.
Praises:
1] Great test results...no bacteria found any longer in my lungs and the continued strengthening of my lung functions.
2] The thought of going home for Christmas, which is still inside of the the 3 month early release date. My latest schedule just issued yesterday prior to consultation showed us being in Jacksonville until January 11th.
3] All of our family is so thankful and grateful for your continued prayers and words of encouragement. So many people praying for us, many of whom we have never even met. Thank you to each one of you. Please continue to pray...it`s working.
4] Debbie and I are thankful for the Kellys and Sonneborns for the roles they have each played in our lives as they have cared for Kylie and Debbie and I respectively. You guys have been beyond anything we could have asked for.
5] We are thankful for each one who has been the "Hands of God" in helping meet Kylie`s needs and assisting her to meet her busy schedule and for those that have assisted both Debbie and I through this whole journey.
6] As I was coming close to finishing my exercising yesterday morning prior to meeting with the Mayo Staff in the afternoon, the song "I`ll be Home for Christmas" came to mind. It was as if God was saying to me....get ready son, you`re going home for Christmas. It was an emotional moment. Praise God.....I`ll be home for Christmas!!
On a humorous note, the way I shared with Debbie, Mark and Dawn last night about this song coming to mind as I exercised, I searched the internet for that song and the first version I found is now on my blog site just in a separate blog since we had to put the youtube.com video....it sounds funny, but it was a fun way to tell Mark and Dawn we would be leaving soon as we arrived back at their house last night after receiving all of our good news.
Have a Great Holiday Season and Merry Christmas!!!
Love in Christ,
Rick and Debbie
Now it's my turn. I wanted to add the song my dad wanted "I'll Be Home for Christmas", but the playlist wasn't finding it, so you get to listen in by stopping the other music and pushing play on the separate blog if you choose to go visit. We are so thankful for this wonderful news and with the Christmas holidays coming up we had figured we'd spend a few days in Jacksonville with my dad and everyone before heading down to spend time with some of my husband's family but I felt something would be missing. Going home for Christmas just wouldn't be the same as my brother and I had decided a few months back this is something we wanted to do this year given my dad's condition. Obviously, God took the reigns and showed us that he had a plan for everything, even Christmas. The girls are excited to go home for Christmas and didn't quite understand what it meant that G-Man was heading home, but I think they've been slightly confused by all of this at their young age with our visits to see them. Having said all that, this will be an extra special Christmas and will probably be one of the most memorable. Once again, having full reign of the blog and being that my last name is 'Music', I found myself looking through the songs I had posted on there before whether per my dad's request or simply me liking the song. It's fun to see the progression of the songs and what they are at now from what they were just 4 months ago! Since I couldn't put the song my dad wanted, I chose one of my favorite Christmas songs, "Breath of Heaven". I realize this song is about Mary and all she went through and her emotions, but my dad has truly received the "Breath of Heaven" and I thought it was fitting to combine that with the holiday. My wish is that this year we can each look at life in a whole new way and not take for granted even the simplest of things God gives us, like the ability to breathe. I was just telling my dad a few minutes ago how one of my best friends here in SC that had never met him was saying I was "pulling a Rick Hornsby". She knew exactly what she was saying and knows there isn't a much higher compliment you can give me. Because as she said "I am my father's daughter". I can only hope to be half the person he is and always has been as I continue on in my life. Merry Christmas from our family to yours!
Blessings,
Christy
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