We're nearly at two month post-transplant, and I am sorry I haven't updated in a while. With Tricia feeling strong enough to do more for herself, we finally have our little family back together for good for the first time since October, and we have all been busy just being together.
Tricia continues to avoid all major setbacks. We did find out a few weeks ago that Tricia's left diaphragm was paralyzed during surgery, which is making breathing more difficult than it should be. There is a good chance that it will not fix itself, and surgery has not been discussed, which means she may never experience breathing as fully as she could have with a healthy diaphragm. Along with her already atrophied muscles, her breathing continues to progress very slowly (but we are thankful for the progress!).
Tricia still has her trach, is still on a few breathing treatments, and we're still using a suction pump to help bring up secretions from her lungs. She is still on humidified room air when she sleeps to help keep her lungs moist since she isn't breathing through her mouth/nose. All of these will come to an end soon, but until they do, we will remain in Durham.
Tricia was expecting to have her staples removed this past week, but the surgeon decided to wait a while longer to allow her incision to heal. She was a little disappointed, as removing the nearly 100 staples across her chest will allow her more mobility, but she's tough enough.
We were given permission to travel home the past few weekends. It was AWESOME to be back on the beach for the first time since October and spend some quality time with family and friends. Tricia is about 3/4 of the way to graduating from her physical therapy/rehab, but again, with her recovery starting point at transplant being so low, we don't expect to be home for good before the first of August. Our goal is to be home by the beginning of the school year in mid-August.
All in all, we are very happy with the progress, even though we always want it to move faster. Thank you for your continued prayer!
Nate
