My Stay in Pictures

Waiting to hear if it's "a go"

Last weekend I downloaded all of the recent pictures from my phone and wow! I discovered another version of my hospital stay compared to the one Todd wrote so comprehensively. These are more like snap shots of what life was like. And so I share them now with you. Warning - there are a couple of gross pictures.

Being wheeled to the final holding area, my crew behind me

It's a beautiful day for a transplant! View off the roof of Duke.

Clearly this was very early on post transplant because I still have the line in my neck. I don't remember taking this or having it taken and by the size of my pupils I can see why.

Hand bruised and puffy from attempted IVs; my other arm was worse. That's what 12 hours of dehydration will do to you.

Blood draining from my beautiful new lungs into chest tubes

Yes, the nebulizer treatments weren't *quite* over yet

Mouth swabs in ICU...my lifeline for a dry, dry, dry mouth that couldn't have any water

Many, many medications running into me

Me with the stylish nasal-gastric tube that gave me nutrition before my G-J feeding tube was placed in my stomach.

Ahh...thickened liquids...this is fruit punch Gatorade, one of my stand-bys. I hated this stuff but I was glad to be able to drink!

Walking down the hall of 3300 with the Swedish walker

Oxygen saturation: 100%!!

An attempt at an artistic picture.

 

Dirty socks! The doctor Gustavo was always preaching about "dirty socks" - the more you walk the better you recover!

Laid up in the bed...at least I had graduated to pajamas. You can see I'm connected to two chest tubes. I was also hooked up to a heart monitor (with 6 leeds!) and an IV all the time. It made getting to the bathroom a huge chore!

Toward the end of my stay...I'm feeling better you can see. But while there were good moments like this, there were still many times of extreme fatigue and other issues.

These two animal collages from Ellen Tai were the best things anyone could have sent to me while I was in the hospital. I hung them on the wall and they always made me happy to look at. Everyone who came in my room also saw how adorable our pets are. Thank you Ellen!!!

Today's (and everyday's) Plan: WALK; Also, this was my rock star day of walking 30 laps - that is 6 laps shy of 2 miles.

And...home. Adjusting to new routines (here my G-J tube is being flushed) and life without kitties or dogs allowed in the bedroom which equals more snuggle time on laps during the day.

My G-J tube (the thing coming out of me) and holes from where my chest tubes were. This was taken right before my stitches were taken out.

And here is a look at my clamshell incision staples!

A look out the window at Duke clinic - where I have spent so much of my time - on a rainy day. The outside of the buildings sure are pretty.