Thursday, Sept. 25 updates

It's been a very long past few days. Results of the perecentesis showed more infection, plus Dan was in great pain and the confusion was back. The doctors decided it was time to do more surgery, this time go through the transplant incision, drain out any remaining fluid pockets, and then wash out the entire abdominal cavity with antibiotics. The plan was to do this surgery on Tuesday.

Dan went to pre-op Tuesday around noon and we waited for Mayo to get a supply of Dan's special blood in case transfusion would be needed (turns out they had to do a national search). So they sent us back to Dan's room on the 3rd floor to wait since it would take hours. I went home to take a short break and when I returned, Dan's heart went afib again so they postponed the surgery to Wednesday if his heart rhythm was back down to normal. The goal for the rest of Wednesday was pain management and heart meds, he received morphine every hour until about 10pm, then about 4 more times the rest of the night. Dan could not be left alone and a nurse had to be present, later in the evening the nurse checked on him every 15 minutes or so. His heart returned to consistent regular rhythm about 2am.

Wednesday, the doctors decided to try for the surgery again, so it was back to pre-op around noon. Pain meds continued as well as anti-anxiety meds, to keep Dan calm and relaxed so the heart would also be calm and relaxed. He went for surgery around 3:15pm and it took 3 hours. The doctor (Dr. Mulligan, same one who did the transplant) told us they did the abdominal wash and also removed Dan's spleen as it was enlarged and diseased. Without a spleen, Dan will need various vaccines, some of which he already received. Then in recovery, his heart rate dropped suddenly. They stabilized him and he did 3 different scans to check for possible clots or other heart problems, all were negative. He spent the night in CCU sedated, with an airway, feeding tube, and a bunch of IVs, drains, etc.

This morning, the cardiologists came by, their findings showed Dan's heart is very strong and no defects or other heart problems although he is still afib and irregular heart rate. They hope to remove the airway sometime today, although the airway has been good in that it has been inflating all his lungs, he has been breathing so shallow since transplant. Dan actually looks better than even after transplant, he's awake and his eyes are very clear, like the mental fog is finally gone. We hope this is so - praise God!

Thought for the day: I've been thinking alot about the 23rd Psalm the past few days. What a comfort it's been to visualize God as our shepherd, loving us, leading us, and protecting us. I remembered the part about God leading us through the valley of the shadow of death, that's always a comfort when I think of our mortality and I've been thinking about it the past few days. One word popped out at me: through. God is leading us through the valley and God spoke to me with a vision of walking through a dark, scary valley with high mountains on each side blocking the sun; but after the valley are those green pastures and still waters and sunshine. Unfortunately, we sometimes have to walk through and the shadowy valleys of hard times when we would prefer to walk around them. But the rest of the verse promises our Shepherd will be with us to comfort and protect us, and we don't have to fear. Walking in the comfort and light of life feels better, but walking through the shadowy valleys brings a closer walk with God and each other, and unleashes amazing possibilities of growth and adventure.

Sheltered in His arms,
Debbie and Dan