New Lung Day 1 & 2

New Lung Day 1

Thursday August 29, 2024

12:01am

Fred has had his new lung for approximately 9 hours. He is still sedated as the Echmo/Cardiac machine is still attached. This machine is used during surgery as it helps the lungs and heart perform during the surgery so that they are not strained.  The Doctors do not want to wake him completely until this machine is removed as he may detach it by moving too much.

It is after midnight and as I attempt to get some sleep, there are so many dings, buzzing, beeping and blips. All of these sounds just mean that Fred is being monitored very closely.

He is resting peacefully and that is a good sign.

2:00am

I am awakened by multiple people in Fred’s room and lots and lots of noises. His BP has dropped, and they are trying to figure out why. Thank goodness it is resolved quickly, and Fred is resting again peacefully.

4;10am

This time I am awakened by the x-ray tech coming in to take an x-ray that will evaluate the bleeding in his chest.

The tech places the x-ray board under Fred, and he gets very agitated and suddenly there are a lot of buzzers and beeps. Within minutes there are 10 people in his room. Everyone is checking all the monitors to figure out why. When the x-ray board is removed, he settles down. Must have been the way or the pressure on his back and lungs, as was mentioned by the attending Doctor.

The x-ray tech attempts this one more time and the x-ray is a success.

6:00am

Day nurse comes in and is briefed by the nighttime nurse.

It was mentioned that the bleeding tubes are still producing too much blood. More than normal and this is something they will follow closely.

8:45am Attending Doctors and Physicians rounds.

The bleeding was addressed, and the attending Doctors suggest that Dr Patel go back in and try to alleviate the bleeding. This surgery is scheduled for tomorrow, Friday. Fred will stay sedated until after the surgery, he will also stay intubated. This is of course a concern.

Good news is that the Echo/Cardio machine is no longer needed. The lung is functioning as it should. The machine is still kept attached to Fred in case it is needed again during the upcoming surgery.

10:00am Fred is awakened slightly and given a neural test to see how he responds, and he does well. He is able to do all that is asked of him, such as squeeze your hand, and wiggle your toes.

As I sit in Fred’s room today, I am grateful he is resting peacefully with no agitation. Watching your loved one being sedated for an extended period of time is tough, as even though it is the best for him it is really hard to not have him be able to respond.

6:00pm- as I step out of Freds ICU room to grab dinner at Panera I am grateful to the nurses, physicians and Doctors who are looking after him. I feel he is receiving excellent care. Lung transplant is a complicated surgery and there must be so much to learn in order to care for these patients.

Duke Hospital is one of the top hospitals that perform lung transplants, and we are so grateful that we were accepted for this life saving surgery.

When I return from dinner I speak to Fred, as I always do when I leave and return to his room. I notice that his color looks really good. That’s a good sign.

7:00pm nighttime nurse arrives and is briefed by daytime nurse. Fred is doing well.

I am anxious about the surgery tomorrow to stop his bleeding; this is an unexpected surgery, but I know it is a needed surgery. Even with this complication I know he is in excellent hands.

As I fall asleep, I am hopeful I will be able to get some sleep tonight.

Till tomorrow.

New Lung Day 2

Nurse was kind enough to dim the lights at 9:00pm last night so I set up my sleeping bed for the night. It is not much, a couch a few pillows and a blanket. I will again try to get some sleep but who can really sleep much in the ICU?

Slept off and on for a few hours.

4:20am

Constant beeping going off again. At first did not think too much about it as nurse would come in and turn of the beeping. But then it went on for about 30 minutes. I asked the nurse what was happening. She informed me that Fred’s heart rate was low, in the 50’s, at one time it was down to 47, but she said he was tolerating it well as she was checking his stats.

5;50 am

Beeping alarm sounds again, this time it is louder than before. I can tell Fred is agitated so I walk over and talk to him, try to calm him down. Nurse comes in and as he relaxes, she checks his stats, and he has no blood pressure or pulse.

CODE RED!

Within 15 seconds 12 people come into Fred’s room and CPR is started. One person is checking his pulse, one is checking his pupils, one is checking the monitors. There is so much commotion all at one time. I hear someone ask, “Is this a drill?’.  I want to scream at him NO this is not a drill, but I do not as he realizes it is not within seconds after saying that. After one round of CPR, Fred is checked, and he does not have a pulse.

Second round of CPR is started, they check him again and HE HAS A PULSE!  I have never been so scared in my life. I have never prayed so hard in my life. You see this on TV, not in real life. It was like an out of body experience. I just kept thinking, this cannot be happening, but it was.

After it is determined there is a heartbeat, I am so relieved, BUT he has an irregular heartbeat, AFIB (I think). Therefore, they need to shock his heart back into regular rhythm. They do this twice and his heartbeat is back to regular rhythm. Thank GOD.

Nurse comes over to speak to me and they are not sure why this happened. It could be the blood in his chest. They will be taking him to emergency surgery right away to alleviate this problem. Now remember Fred is in the ICU pretty much fresh out of a major surgery so there are so may tubes and IVs hooked up to him. The response team start to get him ready for transport, but it takes a good 10 minutes before he is ready. I hear the Attending Physician say “We need to go” more than once and that is alarming to hear. I know they are trying to move fast but there is so much that needs to be unhooked and then hooked back up again.

As they wheel Fred away, I am filled with so much Love for him, and anxiety at the same time. I know he is in good hands, but I will not be able to relax until he is safely back in his ICU room. I pray some more.

7:15 am Dr comes in the room about an hour later and inform me that he does think the blood in the chest cavity may be the factor for his heart rate to drop and blood pressure to drop. He cleaned out the area and has left the chest cavity open a little. Fred will be scheduled for surgery tomorrow to go back in and make sure that the chest cavity is clear. If it is, they will close the chest and wean Fred off of sedation and get him awake.

8:15am Fred is wheeled back into his ICU room and is resting comfortably.

2:45 Since Fred has been under sedation now for a few days the Doctor recommends a feeding tube so he can have some nutrition. The first nurse that tried to place the feeding tube was unsuccessful. A second nurse came in to give it a try and was successful within a few minutes.

401pm Doctor does a Bronch test. This is where a tube is guided through his throat to the new lung where a sample of the lung is collected. This sample checks for any viruses or infection. Attending Doctor informed the lung looked good and no infection was detected. This is a relief to hear.

Fred rests well the remainder of the day. He is scheduled tomorrow morning for another surgery to make sure there is not any blood left in his chest cavity.

My sister is staying with Fred tonight so that I may go home and get some much-needed sleep and a much-needed shower. It is times like this that a support system is so important. I do not want to leave the hospital, but I know I must. I have been here for 3 days already and have had minimal sleep. I am exhausted, mentally and physically. I know my sister will watch over Fred while I am gone.

I leave the hospital about 8:45 and drive home.

As I am driving home, I realize how tired I am. As I was having a hard time focusing on the road, I called my other sister and talked to her the whole way home. Again, I am grateful to have a support system there when you need them.

As I take a shower and am able to relax just a little, I am thinking how this day started with a huge scare and how it ended with everything being ok. I am so blessed to still have Fred here with me, and he is so fortunate he has such good care at Duke Hospital,

On to bed for rest so I may be refreshed for tomorrow. The Doctors make their rounds about 8:30am and I want to be there to hear what they have to say about Fred and the plan they have for him going forward.

My Friends, I would like to say Thank You for following my journey as my husband gets listed and is accepted into the Lung Transplant Program. This is just a few days of our journey. At the time of writing this Fred, my husband, has been in Duke Hospital a total of 17 days. It has been a whirlwind of a time, and I just wanted to share our first few days at the hospital with you. I have written a blog for every day we have been here. This is not only for me to remember what happened but also to share our story. If you would like to hear more of our journey, please let me know.

I will eventually be transitioning back into the health and wellness blogging soon.

Please let me know if you have enjoyed this blog as I would love to hear from you. Also have you been in a similar situation. I would love to hear about your experience.

You can read more about lung transplant here. I think you will enjoy this read.

Till next time.

Sherri

You can read my previous blog here.

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