Sunday, June 2, 2013

"Home" Again, "Home" Again, Jiggity Jig

Tricia was discharged around 3pm today.  No chest tubes and only one IV medication every eight hours give her a real sense of freedom.  She is still receiving humidified air via an oxygen concentrator when she's at rest, but only to keep her new lungs nice and wet.  Sometime in the next few weeks, her doctor will remove her trach and the more than 100 staples that helped close her chest incision.

Thus begins stage two of the transplant recovery.  She'll relax for the weekend at the hotel (four laps around the parking lot gets her mile walk in, we discovered tonight) and then back to the grind at Duke's Center For Living on Monday for about five weeks of rehab.  Her biggest goals right now are to strengthen her breathing and add some weight (and avoid infection and rejection).  Tricia has now lost well over 60 pounds in the past 18 months and is as thin as I've ever seen her, including during her first transplant.  She's got a long, hard road ahead of her to get back to where she is feeling healthy, but if anybody can do it, she can.

Nate

40 comments:

Growing Up Rutledge said...

You got this Tricia!

OnEaglesWings said...

Praising the Lord with you and for you all! Will continue to lift you all up in prayer as you take those next steps into a new life again! How amazing.

In Christ,

Diane

Liz said...

Oh my goodness! 60 lbs! I knew she'd lost weight but didn't realize it was that much. Praying for some cheeseburgers & milkshakes to bulk her up. :)

Kathryn said...

Bless her. I wish I could be closer and could cook wonderful things for your family. Always prayers.

Kat said...

How do you report comments? Or can you? :(

LA said...

Praying for the recovery phase to go well. Go Tricia!

Meggan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

For those of you who don't know, Nathan was outed at Free Jinger as a troll. He made despicable comments about a woman who had lost her child. He is not the Christian he makes himself out to be on this blog. His twitter account was quite an eye-opener and the reason why he has lost a huge amount of respect online.

Rick Lawrenson said...

And you're not a troll, right?

Annie from Oregon said...

I am very happy for you. I pray you continue to speed down the road to strength, health, ....and home!! =o)

Susan said...

I hope "Any Ominous" gets her small mind booted off here pronto... Nathan - hit the 'delete' button! You don't need this and we don't want to see or hear it either.

Anonymous said...

Rick, if you think there is any comparison between my comment here and your son's behaviour on Free Jinger, read this thread.... again.

http://freejinger.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=14956

Hi Libbyliv I mean Nathan.

Even Nathan's sister-in-law Megan (tinylegs1) found his behaviour terrible.

He made his twitter account private VERY QUICKLY after this incident. People are not proud of your son anymore. Sorry. The truth always comes out eventually.

Judy K said...

Rejoicing with you in these huge
steps and continuing to pray for you all and the donor family!

Thank you for the updates!

Nana Judy

Unknown said...

wishing and praying for a speedy recovery.

we missed gwenyth(sp) at graduation

our hearts and prayers are with you.
:)

Annie from Oregon said...

BTW...if you copy and paste Nathan's words to update your prayer warriors, that will avoid Anonymous' poison being shared further. =o)

Anonymous said...

Wow I didn't realize she got 100 stsples! That must be a huge wound!! Sure hope she can gain weight!

LizW said...

Wonderful news! Keeping you all in my prayers.

Annie from Oregan said...

Nathan is the epitome of double standards.

- Vehemently against abortion, but not at all concerned about the number of babies that die in the first year of their life due to inadequate or no healthcare. Heck that could cost him a buck or two, so his conviction sadly wanes. (The infant mortality rate in the United States by the way is shocking given the wealth in the country.)

- Not happy about parting with a few bucks so all have healthcare because people shouldn't get something for nothing, yet he has been living for MONTHS on end on the charity of others.

Father, forgive him, for he does not know what he is doing.

Anonymous said...

omg, she lost 60 pounds?? How much does that make her weight now? Still praying!
Sheila

Annie from Oregan said...

@ Anonymous 9:59 AM
I have no beef with Tricia or Gwyneth. I think referring to a child as a "gork kid" is as low as Nathan's comments on Free Jinger.

Anonymous said...

if anyone can get back to being healthy and living life, it's tricia. she sure has plenty of support! sending love and prayers!

Country Mouse, City Mouse said...

Just as your sidebar says - Faith, Hope and Miracles! I am so glad things are going so well. I love you all!

Anonymous said...

Praying!
People are so rude and pay no mind to them Nathan.
This is your personal blog about your life with your wife and your daughter. People need to get up and go. Everyone is entitled to their opinion on various subjects.

BeachBaby said...

Nathan,
I wondered why you made Tricia wear those same Black and White plaid pajamas EVERY single day in the hospital?? They must have been quite smelly after a while! Why didn't you use some of the donations that were sent FOR TRICIA to buy her a few more pairs of PJs?? I think she needs a new
"caregiver" who will spend HER donations on HER rather than on baseball games and Starbucks! I see these things people have been saying about you for a long time are really true! I didn't want to believe it, but pictures don't lie! Shame! Shame!

Anonymous said...

So glad you all are home again...Tricia keep up the good work...We have you all in our prayers and soon you all will be back on the OBX!!!

Tara said...

Your family is amazing! (No matter how often Tricia wears black and white jammies, lol). Seriously, I hope you know the busy-bodies are few and the supporters are MANY MANY MANY! I am so amazed to be witnessing yet another miracle for your family and do hope you continue to provide updates and prayer requests for ALL of you.

Kat said...

Praying for the trolls....clearly they need many more prayers then Tricia does, as they are much more sicker. :(....

Annie from Oregon said...

Rebuttal: Hi Nathan – I really am Annie from Oregon and want to be sure you know which of these posts are actually mine!! This one - and #1 and #2 ONLY. I have followed you guys for years and continue to pray God’s Will and Love over you.
#1 = MINE
Annie from Oregon said...
I am very happy for you. I pray you continue to speed down the road to strength, health, ....and home!! =o)
June 2, 2013 at 7:23 AM

#2 = MINE
Annie from Oregon said...
BTW...if you copy and paste Nathan's words to update your prayer warriors, that will avoid Anonymous' poison being shared further. =o)
June 2, 2013 at 8:48 AM
ONLY THESE THREE ARE MY POSTS. Sorry about the trolls on here =o(

Annie from Oregon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Vivian said...

i can't believe how far Tricia has come, she is a fighter!
Nathan so sorry you have to deal with the "trolls" I still do not understand why they follow you if they feel the way they do.

asplashofsunshine said...

YOWZERS.... YAYYYYYYYYY! So fantastic!

Missy Roark said...

Did you take down your Facebook page or just delete me? I found a cute pug picture I planned on sharing....sigh. I am thrilled Tricia got her new lungs and can't wait to see her back 110% and enjoying life! I am quite annoyed with your anonymous coward on here...they must not be very bright slandering and harassing Tricia (a spirit filled daughter of God!)and her loved ones. Go back under your rock, troll. You're smelling like the garbage you type.

Anonymous said...

Our whole extended family has been praying for Tricia and your precious family throughout this whole ordeal. When your dear wife was a girl I considered her the most beautiful girl I had ever known. She is certainly an incredibly beautiful woman now. God bless you.

Elise said...

I'm so happy for you and your family. May the next five weeks speed by with blissful ease, strength return to Tricia and there be daily family snuggles in the (as my three year-old refers to it) "big, big bed".

Elise in Boston

Rachelle Thomas said...

Praying! Such an inspiration and can't wait to spend eternity getting to know both of you! :) We may never meet here on earth but so thankful we can have an eternal friendship and Tricia and I will both gave good lungs forever!!!

Unknown said...

Hey Nathan thanks for the update about Tricia. God's blessing is visible in Tricia and how well she is progressing! Continued prayers for Tricia, you and your children. Healing prayers for Tricia and prayers for strength for the journey.
Focus on all the positives in your lives and ignore the rest!

Kim in Canada

Mary said...

That's awesome news! Praying for a steady and healthy recovery for her.

Unknown said...

Wow...so grateful for more prayers for Tricia and your family answered! We will keep praying for her continued healing and recovery. God is good! Blessings to your family on your journey!

Jan Scholl said...

I came over here to see what was up with Tricia after not seeing any updates on Twitter or photos on Instagram. What happened? I only care that Tricia gets well. I don't know you or anything about you other than what I see on this blog etc, and Tricia and Gwynth are always in my thoughts. I am crying as I read these posts because I don't like the hate being posted. Again, I only care that Tricia gets well and lives a long long life. I won't be reading the forums being posted because I have better things to do with my time. I hope I hear that Tricia is doing well someday on this blog. I can't substantiate anything else.

sl said...

Praying for your family as she gets stronger!!