What a week it's been! Only a week ago, we found out that they had found a donor for Daniel, the surgery went ahead and he was in ICU breathing his first breaths with his new lungs. Since then, he moved out of ICU on Sunday, has had five out of six of his chest tubes removed and is completely off of oxygen! All of the doctors and nurses keep emphasizing how well he is doing only a week since his transplant and are even talking about sending us back to Winnipeg sometime next week.
In a week of great progress and milestones, there were still low moments. Pain management for Daniel has always been difficult and the transition from the epidural to painkillers on Monday was extremely tough for him to go through and tough for us to watch. This is also our third week in Edmonton, and the sixth week since Daniel was admitted to HSC in Winnipeg back in January. We're both more than a little homesick and ready to begin this new chapter of our lives together. That's why it's been so good to have our friends and family around us. Daniel's parents, sister and brother-in-law were great supports to Daniel when he was having low moments. My dad has been here the last two weeks to give me whatever support I need, driving me to and from the hospital, taking me to movies and just hanging around to talk. My friend, Tamika, also flew out for a few days and it was so good to have a friend around to go down waterslides, explore Edmonton and just eat good food and laugh with. Without them around, this last week would have been a lot more difficult for us to manage.
So after a few rough moments and a lot of amazing ones, we've reached one-week post transplant, a place we never thought we'd get to. We're so grateful to our doctors for not giving up and committing to giving us a future, to our ever-growing community who has done so much for us since this journey began three long years ago, and to Daniel's donor. He can't know how thankful we are for his final gift, but I hope his family can find some small comfort in the second chance he generously gave us.
And now we get to think about what's next. Something we're still trying to figure out, but the main thing is that we have a next. Our dreams are possible again and we're going to take some time to let them grow.
Laura
