July 23, 2017

Terry has had a few bumps in the road as is expected. He had a TIA in June which is a mini stroke. Now he is checking his blood pressure 3 times a day instead of two. He his just getting over a stomach bug which caused him to lose more weight. His get up and go isn’t what he would like it to be but with time it will get better. One day at a time. Thank you for all of your donations and well wishes.

June 19, 2017

We received the results back from his June 8th bronchoscope and he has a fungal infection in his donor lung. We have been expecting some bumps in the road and here is a bump. He is on a high dose of Itraconazole to help with the fungus. Some of his other medications are being adjusted because they do not react well with the new medication. Hopefully the next bronchoscope in August will have better results.

June 10, 2017

Terry went through labs, echo, X-rays, Pulmonary Therapy, doctor’s appointment and bronchoscope Wednesday and Thursday. Everything went well so far. His lung biopsies take approximately 10 days for the results. He still doesn’t have the energy that he wishes he had but it has only been 118 days. We have met many wonderful people in Minneapolis and their Lung Transplant team is amazing at the University of Minnesota. People ask why not Mayo? Mayo does 11-12 lung transplants a year and University of Minnesota does over 50. University of Minnesota is ranked number 3 out of 60 plus lung transplant centers in the US. They are amazing.

May 6, 2017

Terry was released from having to live at the rental apartment in Minneapolis on Wednesday, May 3rd. Half way home about 3 hours away from home we were t-boned while traveling on Highway 17 in Merrill, Wisconsin by N 84 old woman who did not even attempt to stop. If we were in any other vehicle besides our Buick Enclave things would have been much different. There were no broken bones just bruises, abrasions, high blood pressure which all will heal. They were in contact with the lung transplant team in Minneapolis and his chest X-rays looked fine. The wrecker service said the car is totaled with the airbags deploying besides the passenger side of the car including the front wheel were in rough shape. The front wheel is bent sideways and the posts on each side of the passenger door appear to be sprung. There is also concern about the frame being bent. But cars can be replaced. We are blessed that we are sore but will heal. I was concerned about Terry and he was concerned about me because I was sitting in the passenger seat right where we were hit. All of our belongings from the past three months were scattered all over the car and food even came out of the cooler. I made sure I grabbed Terry’s medication before we left in the ambulance because he can not miss his anti rejection medication. We are home resting and all is well. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers-they are powerful. ❤️

May 6, 2017

We had an amazing weekend at home with the family. Thank you Stacey for making supper Friday nite and breakfast Saturday morning. The kids have been all great watching over the house and collecting the mail. The neighbors have been keeping an eye on the house too. Thank you George and Doreen for bring supper over Saturday night. Our refrigerator was empty so thank you. It was great seeing everybody and Terry and I sure did enjoy seeing the grandkids too. Thank you everybody for all of you support-many cards, text, phone calls, donations, words of encouragement, thoughts and prayers. We appreciate it so much. ❤️

April 27, 2017

Awesome news today- we get to go home for the weekend. We will leave after rehab tomorrow about 12:30 et and will drive back to Minneapolis on Sunday. Even better news-if all goes well after his labs, X-rays, Pulmonary Function Test and doctors appointment on Wednesday, May 3rd he will be going home. Yay! We are going to start packing the car to take home some of our belongings so our car won’t be packed to the roof on May 3rd. We do have to pay for another months rent on the rental apartment but oh well.

April 25, 2017

There has been a lot of emotional ups and downs with his lung transplant. Since day one of his transplant a few close family members have made our life miserable. I believe they are feeling guilty for not visiting him while he had a very serious, life threatening surgery. They have no idea what Terry has gone through along with his family. Making Terry distraught when he is fighting for his life is wrong. I pray they will come to their senses.

April 25, 2017

Terry is still having stomach issues so they sent him for X-ray’s of his stomach today. He found out the right side of his colon is not working and there is blockage. They have a game plan in place and if still blocked by Sunday he has to go in for plan B.

April 25, 2017

Terry continues to have stomach issues and his medications are being adjusted daily. His magnesium dropped drastically again and they now have him on magnesium oxide twice a day which has to be taken with food and not at the same time as his other medications. Keeping his medications straight has been a challenge along with Terry’s tolerance of the medications. For the past six years he has been on a lot of medications including some of the same ones he is on now. You would think those same medications would be tolerable but along with the new drugs it has not been working out. All we can do is take one day at a time.

We would like to thank everybody for all of the cards, thoughts and prayers, monetary donations that we have been receiving. Thank you George and Doreen Bower for all of the cards Terry received-8 cards to date. These cards brighten our day every time we receive one with it being difficult being so far from home

Thank you to our children and grandchildren, Chris, Angela and Todd, Stacey and Gavin, Austin, Carter and Grady along with dear friends Steve and Angela Victorson, George and Doreen Bower and Terry’s brother Lee Frossard for visiting these past 70 days. Words cannot express how thankful we are to have you in our lives.

April 19, 2017

Terry’s stomach issues are acting up again. The game plan is to change one of his anti rejection medications on Tuesday. He has an awesome team of medical staff. Please pray for the donor family today. This is their first holiday without their loved one and this is a difficult time for them.

April 13, 2017

Terry had his bronchoscope this morning and so far so good. The lung was pink which is good, the stitching was good, and no sign of infection. They took ten biopsies which will take up to 10 days for the results to determine if there is any rejection. He feels much better yesterday and today though. After they gave him the magnesium infusion his headache went away and they adjusted his anti resection medication and his stomach issues seem to be better. Hopefully this was his bump in the road and it will be smooth sailing going forward.

April 13, 2017

Terry is at the Infusion Center now getting magnesium infusions. His magnesium has to be up before he can have his bronchoscope done tomorrow.

April 13, 2017

They adjusted Terry’s medication last night and he feels a little better today. His blood work shows his magnesium level at 1.1 which is extremely low which is a result of diarrhea.

April 28, 2017

It has been a rough week. Terry felt better two weeks ago. He feels sick and has no energy. We will no more after his bronc on Thursday April 13 th. Tso weeks ago they said if the bronc looked good he may be able to go home early but now that he has been sick those chances are slim. The bronc tests can take up to 10 days to get the results back. Prayers, prayers and more prayers are needed. Thank you.

April 28, 2017

Saturday we spent 6 hours in the Emergency Room. Terry was vomiting and was dehydrated. He had two bags of IV drip. His tests came back good and he was able to go back to the rental apartment. He is able to keep his food down now but his energy has decreased and he has been sleeping a lot. One day at a time…

May 13, 2017

Terry had extensive tests and doctor’s appointments yesterday. He is scheduled for a bronchoscope on April 13th and if all goes well they may release him early-in two months instead of three months. They said he is doing very well and progressing faster than normal. We don’t want to get our hopes up but Terry is anxious to go home. He was a little dehydrated and has to drink more than the 64 oz of water that he is drinking. He is learning to like water real fast. Thank you everyone for all of your encouragement, kind words, thoughts and prayers and monetary donations.

March 23, 2017

We had quite the scare yesterday. His chest X-ray last week showed nodules on his donor lung, he has a bacteria/fungus in his donor lungs did his antibodies were increasing which is a sign of rejection. We felt we were ready for the bumps in the road but it is easier said than done. His spirits were very low. They were referring him to in Infectious Disease Specialists at the U. He went for a CT scan, blood work and Pulmonary Fuction Tests this morning and we just got the results. What they thought were nodules are phishes between his two lobes in his left lung. The are expecting it to heal and have seen this before. Because he doesn’t have nodules on his lung they are not as concerned about the bacteria/fungus in his donor lung which was actually there before the lung was transplanted but didn’t know until later. They are keeping an eye on it but quite as concerned. We did find out that he has a few fractured ribs which is common. As far as his antibodies going up from 1400 to 1500, they said the increase is minimal and it is comparable to somebody having three ants in their house and now they have four ants but if they suddenly had hundreds of ants then it would be time to worry. A load of relief eased our minds today. It was extremely stressful day yesterday.

May 16, 2017

Terry’s blood pressure seems to be under control now with the medication the doctors have him on but his blood test showed that his antibodies are dropping which is a sign that his new lung could be rejecting. They are monitoring it and know that he is in good hands at the University of Minnesota. If it does start to reject, they will change his medications to overcome the rejection. Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers-it means so much.

March 17, 2017

Terry is now off of oxygen completely. Yay! His hard work is paying off. Monday his blood pressure skyrocketed but the doctors have him on high blood pressure medication-the first time ever trying to lower it. He has been monitoring his blood pressure several times a day to try and keep it under control.

March 15, 2017

2/27/17. Terry had several appointments this morning including labs, X-rays, pulmonary function tests and doctor’s appointments. He is progressing nicely and amaze the doctors. Some of his doses of medications changed and he is off of oxygen while resting but is still on 1 liter while exercising.