December 21, 2023
Great physical therapy session yesterday. Longer Treadmill time and speed (a blazing 1.4 MPH for 25 minutes)...Lotsa upper body work with dumbbells (using FIVE lb dumbbells, yes, I said FIVE lbs...lol)! I feel the hard work today. Still a little slow and wobbly walking without a walker, but that's getting better as well. Feeling stronger in legs.
December 19, 2023
November 19: Now that videos seem to work (just posted so may not be available right away), wanted to post my condition two days after surgery, out of bed and sitting in a chair. It ain't pretty.
But note the improvement in a few short weeks.
December 19, 2023
December 18: Rehab session #2. Upped treadmill time to 20 minutes at a BLAZING 1.2 mile/hour (lol)! Upped the weights as well. A long session with lots of exercises to gain strength and expand the chest/lungs. Did some balance exercises....ugh...LOL
December 19: I'm feeling the workout. But its that tiredness, soreness after a good gym session. So, not bad.
December 16, 2023
December 15: First rehab session. Some treadmill time, some pre-k level weights for the upper body, and brutal leg work. Amazing how weak my legs are now!
December 14, 2023
December 11: I WAS DISCHARGED TO GO HOME TODAY!
I feel great!
Still using a walker but now it is time for rehab.
December 11, 2023
Big day today. I walked all three of my physical therapy walks, WITHOUT a walker! That sounds nuts, but, after the surgery and being stationary, everything weakens.
I looked like a giraffe at birth, trying to stand up and walk, my legs wobbly.
We're getting there, progress every day.
Possibly a bigger day tomorrow!
December 10, 2023
Since November 24, been in the U of P Transplant Recovery area. It has been rigorous. MANY daily visits from doctors, nurses, specialists, and rehab team members. Daily blood work, x-ray, and respiratory treatments, as well as, physical exercise of lungs and legs (I'm still shaky on my legs)!
But thanks to that regimen, I'm way ahead of schedule! Feeling great!
Can't believe how well I can breathe, and FINALLY without a plastic oxygen tube in my nose!
The next phase of lifestyle change will be tough.
December 10, 2023
November 24: Had recovered well, enough that I left the ICU to a Pulmonary Care Unit (more normal room). Time to start the process of doctors choosing the right meds, combos, dosage, etc. Also, get me moving (had been pretty stationary for weeks) and exercising the amazing new lungs!
December 10, 2023
November 18-19: After surgery, I was as loopy as can be! But family visitors claim I was responding correctly to them. I don't recall any of that.
November 20: In U of P Pulmonary ICU, I was already out of bed and sitting up in a chair!
December 10, 2023
November 17: The U of P transplant team doesn't mess around. IMMEDIATELY after the donor lungs were assessed and accepted, I was wheeled in for surgery.
For some odd reason, I was not nervous or anxious.
Let's do this!
HUGE thank you to a genuinely good guy and amazing surgeon, Dr. Edward Cantu and his team!
Even "HUGE-ER" thank you to the person who was willing to generously donate their organs. Rest In peace!
December 10, 2023
November 13: I was relisted on the lung donor list. U of P transplant team informed me that my score was high, so I could get a donor quickly. On Wed, November 15, I received the call that changed everything. It was an incredible moment to hear that there were donor lungs that matched with me. My wife and daughter were at the hospital with me when the call came in. A moment I will never forget. Donor lungs would be ready for me on Friday, November 17!
December 10, 2023
October 22: After being home and closely monitoring heart rate, numbers headed below average, one night, so went back to Virtua Lourdes Emergency Room, out of precaution. After 4 day stay, had another heart episode. Doctors at Lourdes and the University of Pennsylvania Lung Transplant Team, agreed for me to go to U of P for pacemaker insertion (on October 26) to prevent ultra-low heart rate in the future.
My heart and lungs responded HORRIBLY to the Pacemaker procedure! My blood pressure was ultra-low, and I now required a major increase in oxygen help!
Thanks to doctors and the human body's self-repair, my heart stabilized and returned to its pre-Pacemaker state. I was now able to be relisted for a lung donor.
December 10, 2023
October 5: Burlington County EMTs come at 4 am. Had an ultra-low heart rate, so low, that EMTs had to shock my heart to a rate high enough to start meds! I think they saved my life, to be honest! After a 5-day hospital stay, my heart behaved fine without any help, and no Pacemaker was required....yet. Thank you EMTs and thank you, Virtua Lourdes! Major thank you to my wife and daughter for being so poised during a crazy event here at home!
December 10, 2023
The "About Edwin" above covers the overall story. I'll post updates starting from my first emergency.
