Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Acacia UpDates

UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH MEDICAL CENTER

ACACIA IS HEAVILY SEDATED AND IS OUT LIKE A LIGHT,
SHE NEEDS TO BE THAT WAY SO SHE CAN REST AND HEAL.
THE DOCTORS HOPE THAT HER NEW LUNGS AND HER KIDNEYS,
THAT WERE DAMAGED IN SURGERY,
CAN START TO WORK AGAIN.
SHE'S ON BYPASS MACHINES THAT ARE DOING THE WORK FOR HER.
THERE'S LOTS AND LOTS OF VERY INVOLVED PROCESSES GOING ON...

BUT

TODAY, THEY STARTED A 'TRIAL' TO SEE HOW LONG
SHE COULD LAST WITHOUT THE LUNG MACHINE
SHE'S LASTED ALL DAY, HER LUNGS ARE NOW WORKING,
KINDA, ON THEIR OWN.
SHE STILL HAS A VENTILATER DOWN HER THROAT
PUMPING AIR IN AND OUT
SHE'S STILL ON THE MACHINE TO DO THE JOB OF THE KIDNEYS.

HOWEVER

THEY ARE STARTING TO WORK AGAIN, A LITTLE, TODAY.
THIS IS GREAT NEWS. SEEMS ALL THOSE PRAYERS ARE WORKING.
SHE'S IN VERY GOOD HANDS AND
GOD'S WORKING OUT HIS PERFECT PLAN FOR HER.

HE'S GOT A SPECIAL PLAN FOR HER AND I'M LOOKING FORWARD
TO SEE WHAT HE IS GOING TO DO NEXT.
HE'S DONE SO MUCH ALREADY.

HE HAS BLESSED US WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS
THAT HAVE SHOWN SUCH LOVE AND COMPASSION.

SO FOR TONIGHT, SHE'S STILL 'OUT' AND FIGHTING FOR HER LIFE.

SO MANY DOCTORS AND NURSES HAVE TOLD US THAT IT'S
'JUST ONE DAY AT A TIME.'

AND OTHERS HAVE TRIED TO EXPLAIN THAT THIS
IS A LONG, LONG DEAL (ORDEAL).

IT JUST HASN'T SUNK IN TO MY HEAD YET HOW LONG.

THANKS FOR THE LOVE, RUSS

1 comment:

Russ "Cadillac" Cugno said...

Acacia, had the double lung transplant late Friday night/early Saturday
morning. The 11 hour operation has thus far been successful. I waited a
couple of days to update due to a bit of a set back
she had on Saturday. I was hoping and I am happy to send this on a
positive note.

While the set back was not necessarily renal related, she did,
unfortunately, incur kidney damage as a result of the operation - a
situation that is not uncommon. She is currently heavily sedated and
will be in the hospital on machines that are assisting the functioning
of both her lungs and kidneys. A tracheotomy might have to be performed in the
next few days to further assist her breathing. In addition to other
necessary medications to retard the bodies natural desire to reject the
"foreign" lungs, regular dialysis will be required for the foreseeable
future.

I don't know if any of you have done any research on the underlying
issue (Primary Pulmonary Hypertension, aka Idiopathic Pulmonary
Hypertension) or this type of operation, but the disease is very rare
and both the disease and the operation are very scary. Lung transplants
are still in their relative infancy. The first successful transplant was
in 1983. Acacia was very fortunate to acquire compatible lungs,
particularly as quickly as occurred - less than 33% of those needing
transplants annually receive same.

Acacia will likely be in the hospital for at least the next 60 days and
perhaps longer.
posted by russ 'cadillac' cugno at 3:05 PM on Oct 10, 2007