Home safely

Got home safely yesterday at 7pm. We left Toronto at noon. We stopped every hourish so I could walk for a few minutes (to help prevent blood clots). I also had to wear my pressure stockings again. That made me feel real cool.

The doctor in Toronto freaked me out. She told me that some of the only cases where blood clots have formed in patients after a surgery were after young patients, like myself, have driven home from Toronto to Ottawa. So, I took the hourly walks, leg exercises and stockings very seriously.

Thanks so much to Jeremy, Charleen and family for helping get us and all our stuff home safely.

When we got home, we were greeted by all our friends. Even though Chel and I were both tired, we were so glad to see friends and be home that we partied all night. We even went and saw a late show at the Barrhaven Cineplex - Seven Pounds.

If you haven't seen Seven Pounds and you don't know what its about, just go see it. If you find out what its about before you see it, it will ruin the movie completely. Chel, my brother and I saw it in Toronto shortly after I was released from the hospital. The three of us were a wreck at the end of the movie. So good! Go see it!

So glad to be home.

~

We visited dad yesterday and he's doing amazing. Its the first day we've visited him and he hasn't been confused or emotional. He was himself again! It was so great to see.

Last I heard, the hospital was trying to release him to a rehab facility (St Johns Rehabiliation in Willowdale, Toronto). Rehab will help my dad become more independent before being placed back in my mom's care. At the moment, he's having a difficult time getting up on his own, walking, etc.

I'll check with mom in Toronto later today and keep you all posted.

God - thank you so much for taking care of dad and I! Thank you so much that I was able to give my dad a second chance. Continue to give mom strength and stamina to be the wife she needs to be during this difficult rehabilitation process.

Going home!

We got the go ahead to leave! See you all in Ottawa soon!

Pray that I won't get a blood clot on the way home.

2 week checkup

Chel and I are just getting ready for my 1 week checkup appointment. We have to be at the hospital at 8am for blood work (reh!) and then an appointment with my Toronto doctor at 9am. In all likelihood, we should get the green light to head back to Ottawa.

Jeremy and Charleen are supposed to meet up with us sometime between 10am-noon at our hotel. Hopefully we'll be on the road by noon and on our way back home.

It'll be bitter sweet to leave Toronto. We can't wait to get home - but we don't want to leave mom and dad alone in Toronto.

Please keep mom in your prayers. She's having a difficult time as my dad's recovery is a bumpier road than any of us had anticipated. And pray that my dad will regain his strength and his sanity sooner than later.

You gave me your liver!?

Had a good visit with dad today. He's still pretty confused, but he's a more aware of his confusion and asks more questions. Seems like a good sign to me.

Chel and I offered to take him down to Starbucks for a drink and some fresh scenary. He agreed, but needed help getting out of the bed. I told him I couldn't help because I just had surgery.

"You just had surgery!? What?" said dad.

"Dad! ..." I just paused staring at him with a what-the-hell look on my face.

He looked forward, combed his fingers through his hair, then suddenly glared back at me with glistening eyes and said, "You gave me your liver?!"

"Yeah dad!"

He started to cry. He felt so bad that he had forgotten.

Earlier that day, he called one of the nurses into the room and said, "Nurse - I've got to go pee! What do I do?"

The nurse said, "Go to the bathroom!"

He said he felt so foolish asking and even more foolish for not nowing in the first place.

A few hours later, he called the nurse in again and said, "I have to take a dump! What do I do?"

The nurse said, "Go to the bathroom! Just like last time!"

My dad thought to himself... What!? What do I do when I get there? Just crouch on the floor? When he stepped into the bathroom and saw the toilet, he laughed outloud to himself... he was so embarrased to realize there was a toilet in the washroom.

Anyway, we had a great time at Starbucks, though it was short lived. We all got a drink, then almost immediately after we sat down, dad complained about pain so we had to head back up to his room.

Very slowly, day by day, dad's getting a bit better.

Great Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

We had a phenomenal Christmas in Toronto. A few days ago, we were able to upgrade our accommodations. We now have a full apartment with a nice king-bed bedroom and walk in closet. Because of the upgrade, we had a great living space to do Christmas with the whole family.

We all (Steve, Gail, mom, Becky, James, Chel and I) met up at our new apartment at around 9am and we opened all our gifts together. It was a great Christmas. It was tough knowing that dad was all alone in the early morning, but we had plans to visit him as soon as we were done.

After opening all our wonderful gifts, Steve made us breakfast - so good! We all enjoyed each others company and had a great Christmas breakfast.

As soon as we were done, we grabbed our gifts for dad and headed to the hospital. Dad was so happy to see us! He's pretty emotional. "Where have you guys been?!?"

We moved him to a visitors lounge and spent a few hours with dad and watched him open his gifts. Chel and I got him a Harley Davidson sweater from Las Vegas. "Las Vegas!?!?! How did you do that!?" Apparently my dad had completely forgotten that Chel and I had just been to Las Vegas... and that wasn't the only thing he had forgotten.

While he was opening the gift wrap, he stopped, gripping the gift wrap in his right hand. He sat back and said, "See... now I'm confused. Once I unwrap the gift, isn't the wrapping supposed to just disappear?"

My dad had no idea what to do with garbage. Afterwards, he was tossing his orange peals on the ground, and his pill cups on the ground. Each time, I'd pick up after him and he's say, "See... I keep forgetting!"

Dad's confusion is pretty heavy. But its a normal part of recovery. He'll probably be like this for a few weeks still.

He's been doing a few pretty hilarious things...

He told the nurses and my mom that when Chelsea and I get pregnant (?? not sure why my dad thinks this is happening any time soon ??), my mom is also going to get pregnant and we're "going to go through this thing together".

My dad randomly called a loved one and told them on the phone, "You just wait! Something amazing is going to happen in so-and-so's honour! You just wait! You won't believe it!"

When we asked dad about the phone call he had made, his response was, "Yep - tummy tits".

When I originally visited dad for the first time after the surgery, apparently to him I was blue. Completely blue.

Directly in front of my dad's bed, there was a door labelled 10-2 - 10th floor, stair case 2. But all the door said was 10-2. My dad thought that at 10 to 2 (1:50pm), he was going to have to come get me through that door.

I can't remember anymore stories - but they were pretty funny... my dad will think they are funny when he's better.

Anyway, my dad did take a pretty bad fall before we got to the hospital. It shook him up pretty good. He's afraid of walking now. But I keep telling him he has to overcome his fear and keep trying to get better. It isn't going to do him any good to just sleep all day.

After visiting with dad, we headed back to the hotel for a chill afternoon with the family while Steve made a crazy awesome turkey dinner. Dinner was fabulous! So great!

All in all, great Christmas!

Hello from the other side!

Hey everyone - Josh here. Its great to be back.

First off, my experience last week was hell on earth. Some of it was a blur, all of it was terrible and I pray to God that I never have to have surgery again. I'd love to go ahead and post all my experiences and fill in on all the blanks, but I'd rather wait a bit before I start to delve into the details because at the moment, I'd just as soon forget it ever happened. Rest assured, I've made a few point form posts so I don't forget.

The last few days have been okay. Its really difficult to sleep. I've been sleeping on a sofa chair with no neck support. Its terrible. But I can't sleep on my back yet because it hurts - not sure why. But I did take a rando nap this morning on my side which gives me hope that I may be able to sleep in bed this evening.

As I very slowly get back to normal (and I'm talking slow - I'm still walking slouched and I'm eating very small meals), my focus has changed from me getting better to praying for dad.

My dad's recovery is going to be a bumpy road. He hasn't been in is right mind the past few days and their not sure whats wrong. He had a chest infection two days ago which he was treated for but he still doesn't seem to be getting better. But the doctors and nurses who have done 100's of transplants continue to assure us that this is normal. Dad's recovery will take weeks, not days. The good news is that my liver graft is performing great!

God - You're not done with my Dad's life. You're still working and I have faith that you'll see him through!

Please continue to pray for my dad's recovery.

Josh is Out!!

Just got in to the hotel, and this time I have my husband with me!

Josh was let out today! He is sooo happy! We are just headed out to pick up his millions of perscriptionsm, so he will write later and fill you all in on his side of things!

Chelsea Gets Inked!

So a few weeks ago when we found out this would all be going down, James had an idea for us to get tattoos while Brian and Josh were in surgery so that we would all come out of this with permanent scars together. I loved the idea of it, but what to get?
Im not scared of tattoos, but I wanted something with meaning.

The night before the surgery I was reading a magazine and saw a picture of Rhianna where you could see this cool tattoo on her back. I thought, thats a wicked place for a tattoo. So I had the spot, now what to get?

Then litterally it all came to me.

Through this whole situtaion Josh and I have been talking about how much love people are showing us. We never would have imagined all the emails, blog comments, gifts and hugs. Josh's words to live by have always been "Love God, Love People". I thought I understood what that meant, until all this happened. I feel like every single one of you have REALLY shown us what it REALLY means to love people. Your blog comments, phone calls, visits, gifts, meals, snacks, emails, hugs, shoulders to cry on and prayers are truly what got us through this. We keep saying we cant wait to be able to show that same love back, to be there for someone else when they need it. I dont want to ever forget all that was done for us and how it made us feel. I never want to forget what it means to love.

3-2-1!

My back


Love.

The more I thought about, the more I realized that word has a lot of meaning to me on top of all of that. Josh and I call eachother "Love". A few weeks ago my Dad took the family to Vegas to see the Beatles Cirque Du Soleil in honour of my Grandpa. The show is called "Love". At the end of the show, the very last song was "All You Need is Love". My brother and I on either side of my Dad all stood with our arms around eachother. I knew that moment would be one I would carry with me forever.

When the tattoo was done, the guy doing it saw my scar from my appendix and showed me he had one around the same spot. "Appendix?" I asked, "no, kidney transplant".
nnnooo waaayy. 5 Years ago, at the same hospital, his uncle donated a kidney to him.

So there you have it.

Thank you everyone for loving us.

Love, Love, Love...

Ps-Josh LOVES it!

And Happy Birthday Jared(my bro)! Wish we were there. love you.

Switch-a-roo

Today Josh was great!
Brian was not.

As far as recovering is going, Brian is still doing great. He was moved today from ICU to ACU and is starting to come off all the crazy meds they had him on. Unfortunatly Brian's "bad day" was much worse then Josh's. He was basically confused all day. He didnt understand where he was, he couldnt figure out how to eat and he was halucinating. When Josh and I went in to see him he was pretty bad. He kept saying "wait a minute...Josh..." and then he would just look so confused. Like he wanted to say something but couldnt figure out how. Then, like father like son, he gave me the Bloomfield death eyes! He wins the death eyes award. Im pretty sure he burned a hole in me. It was sad/scary. He kinda of put his finger up like "I think I know you...I just cant figure out why..". He also kept pushing his feet against the end of his bed saying "how many times do I have to do this!". We think he thought that was his call button for his nurses. Its hard in a time like that to know if you should laugh or be serious. Especially when you are on an emotional roller coaster all week. Literally! Its a rollder coaster ride every single day. you never know what you'll walk into that day. I think this was a serious time though. Linda found it very hard. She told me at the end of the night, that even though he didnt understand where he was or what was going on he looked at her and said "you're supposed to be here with me." He knew she was the one that stands beside him.

On a good note, Josh was unhooked from everyhing today! A free man! He took a shower and walked all over the place. Cailin also came in and showed him how to give himself the needle he has to do for the next 5 weeks. eewww. Cant handle that. I think he can do it though.

After all he's been through, I know he can do it.

He got his bandages changed, so we got the first full look at the scar. We know you are all wondering what it looks like, so of course there is a pic.

So we're hoping tomorrow will be a better day for Brian.
As for Josh, I cant believe Im saying this but....
We're hoping for some farts!
If the gasses start moving he will hopefully be out on Sunday, but for once in his life he isnt farting so we are looking at maybe Monday.
Who would have thought?

Feeling Better

So today was a better day for Josh. When I got to his room he wasnt there because he had been taken downstairs for an ultrasound. When he came back and saw me, he SMILED! Josh is back!! He was finally back to himself. He admitted he doesnt really remember much from the past 3 days, so I took some time filling him in on the funny things he said, the people he saw and the scowls he gave! He felt SO bad! Its ok love, its all normal. I also read to him all the wonderful messages everyone has been leaving. Through his bad heart burn he managed to smile again. That was great to see. He's now feeling pretty normal, not much pain from the actual surgery just really really bad heart burn. I can see its kind of depressing him. No matter what they give him, it doesnt seem to go away. He is being so strong though. I am so proud of him. I hope he learns through this that he can do anything! After his ultrasound he was moved down to the 7th floor and out of ACU. Progress! They gave him a big private room with his own bathroom and shower.

Brian is another story! Im tellin ya, you have to peel him off the ceiling he is SO happy! We had a great surprise visit from Wayne today. When I took him to see Brian, as soon as we turned the corner in ICU we heard this LOUD clapping! I knew right away it was Brian in his room having his own little party! Later on in the day Josh took a long walk up to his Dad's room and they had a great visit. As we left Brian belted out at the top of his lungs "Fa la la la la!". His nurses must think he's lost his mind!

Oh and he now has his own compact mirror that he can pull out whenever he wants to look at himself again. And he does alot!

The blood clot surgery for Brian ended up being cancelled because it seems to be fixing itself! He will hopefully be moved from ICU to ACU (where Josh just was) in the next few days.

Tomorrow Josh will be unhooked from everything! No more IV's or catheter. Then hopefully out of the hospital at the end of the weekend.

Im so proud of you love.