A New Day....

This morning Pete was in good spirits and seemed a bit more alert.

The physio therapists are starting with the exercise routine already.....which is a very important step in the healing process.  It's a bit difficult yet because of the fluid retention, plus Pete was able to sit up at the side of the bed for a bit which helps in getting things moving in his chest.

Pete remains on the ventilator because he simply doesn't have the strength to breathe deep enough on his own yet.  This could take some time yet and is to be expected.

All in all, so much to be thankful for.  We are very grateful to you all for keeping Pete and our family close in your thoughts and prayers.

Have a blessed day

It's a beautiful sunny day......

.....and when we walked into the ICU this morning, Pete greeted us with a smile.

We have so much to be grateful for and at the same are prepared for the bumpy road ahead.

Will post updates as we get them.

Take care

A 2nd surgery

The very busy staff forgot to tell us that Pete was back in ICU so all in all the surgery took about 1.5 hours and it was just as they thought.  The area on the ride side of Pete's body where the lungs had adhered them self, was bleeding from the scraping needed to release them.

So they clotted that area and while they were inside any ways they took the opportunity to give the chest a saline cleaning.  That can only be a good thing :)

They also have said that Pete is oxygenating very well.

The children came this morning and when we went into the ICU the monitors became just a bit more active.  A good sign.  Pete even managed to open his eyes and move his feet.......and then proceeded to fall asleep again.  We think......maybe he was still able to hear us.

Right now he is having a bronchial scope done to check and clean the lungs.

Pete's brother John and his wife Yvonne spent the morning with us too........thanks!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

7 hours later....

At 10.15 pm Pete is out of surgery. At this point the doctor's said that it had gone well and that Pete had received a good set of lungs.

We go into ICU for about 1 hr.  They are very busy trying to stabilize Pete and are keeping him in a induced sleep. So we head off to have a normal sleep in the out patient dorms.

This morning at 6.00 I get a call saying that they are taking Pete back into surgery at 7.00.

Pete keeps bleeding from his right side and they keep pumping new blood into him. This in turn makes it difficult to keep his blood pressure under control.

Surgery should just take a couple of hrs.

It's happening.....

Pete is in surgery.  They came for him at 3.00 pm and we left Pete at the operating theater at 3.15 pm.

The estimated time for surgery is 8 - 10 hours.

Brad arrived this morning from Chilliwack, BC and is staying here with me.

The other children have gone home to be with their families.

We give praise to God alone that this is possible and that He will watch over Pete and guide the hands of the doctors and all who are caring over Pete.

Pete got the call

In less than a day, Pete has already received the call.  We arrived at the hospital at about 7.30 pm and they are busy preparing Pete for surgery.  At this point the surgery is scheduled for this afternoon.

We still have to be prepared that at the last minute as they retrieve the lungs from the donor, that the lungs are not acceptable.   This is called a "dry run".  

I will let you know at that point what is happening.

The time has come......

......and yes, Pete has made the decision to activate and is now ready to receive a double lung transplant.

Pete flew to Ontario at the end of February to celebrate his brother Gary's 65th birthday and visit with his family and especially to spend time with our daughter Suzanne and her family.  He felt pretty good when he was there, but by the time he arrived back in Edmonton he had gotten the flu and from there everything just spiralled downward.

A visit with the family doctor and the usual prescriptions of steroids and antibiotics along with oxygen gave him some relief, but his oxygen absorption continued to stay very low and his color was not good.

Thankfully he was due to meet with the Lung Transplant Team for his regular review.  The Pulmonary Function test was done and the numbers weren't good.

Before we went into the city, Pete had already decided for himself that it was time and the doctors didn't hesitate to agree with him.

Now as I've mentioned before, we have to stay close to home and the waiting begins.  The call can come tomorrow, in a week, a month or a year.  Pete is at peace with the decision and we continue to leave everything in the Lord's hand.