Last Post Until Fundraising Is Over

Hi everyone. As you know we hooked up with COTA to fund raise, so they have set up a website for us to use. It is something similar to this, it has photos, blogs, schedule for events and of course donation options. Brie and Lindsay will be working on it this weekend so you can follow her progress. Thanks for following Lindsay's journey with me! She will continue to get better, so tell your friends or Company to log onto the following page. http://cotaforlindsaym.com/

What a Day

I haven't blogged in a few days, so I should probably catch you all up to speed. We moved into the apartment homes on Tuesday and what a relief for Lindsay. We had a small unexpected welcome home dinner. We had several guests and we are only allowed to have 2. Just a few friends of Lindsay's, but we also had our 1st noise complaint and we were not even there for 24 hours. We learned our lesson. Unfortunately Lindsay had a hard time getting to sleep, so we went from the bed to the recliner, back to the bed and then finally the recliner. Since she is not in a hospital bed, it is hard for her to be comfortable because it is still tough for her to lay down flat. I am glad I brought my own pillow because we used every pillow to prop her up. Oh what a night and we didn't get enough or much sleep at all. On top of that we had a busy day with getting medications ready, blood draws, x-rays, viewing the old lungs and then clinic. Clinic is just an appointment to meet with the transplant team to make sure Lindsay is recovering well, (and she is) answer any questions or concerns we have. So far so good besides the dream/hallucinations. They say it is most likely some of the medications and the fact that her body has been through so much. Most of the meds she will be weened off in time and some will go to a lower dose. After we got home, Jared came over to give me the night off so I can go to school and to spend time with his sister. We will have to see if he survives this night and if he will come back. I'm sure he will I just like to give him a hard time. Not much has happened since we discharged, but Lindsay is taking it slow and trying to rest every opportunity she has. If she has nights like she did last night she will be napping a lot. The doctors also want Lindsay to walk around, be active and live a normal life. Of course it will take her time to get back to 100% normal (or better), but it is good for her to get out and go on a walk, or the store.


Lindsay has to wear a mask every where she goes except the home and Dr. offices.
*Thanks to all who have donated. Our family appreciates it! :) *

Pics of Old Lungs *Graphic*

*Right lung is on the left (2 pieces) Left Lung is on the right*

*White coloring is End Stage CF*

*Pore should be a large hole with no mucus surrounding instead of the small holes you see*

The Old Lungs *Graphic*

Lindsay, Amie and I got to see Lindsay's old lungs today. We did not just see them we got to hold them, take pictures with them and kiss them GOODBYE!!!! Not really kiss...but you know what I mean. What an experience that was. I will probably never get the chance to do anything like that in my life again, but it was so nice to see an organ that is inside the human body. It was kind of sad also looking at her poor, unhealthy lungs. In the bottom pictures the lungs have pores with little holes and white 'stuff' surrounding the inside of the pores. Well the 'stuff' is mucus that should not be there in order for the pore to be bigger in order for Lindsay to breathe well. The mucus dries up and hardens making it more impossible to breathe. Now these lungs look like she was a smoker, but it is actually a dye they put on the lungs to preserve them. You all saw a picture of her lungs when they were 1st taken out. Then they were pink and white. Well the white that we saw was considered 'end stage' in a CF lung. You can still see them in these pictures. Who knows how much longer Lindsay would be alive if she still had them. And yes we had to go to the "Gross Room" to view them.

COTA Website Redirected For Now

So I've been told the COTA website (Lindsay's personal page) is not up and running yet, but you can still go onto http://cota.org/ , click 'find a family' and type in her name & state and it should bring you to her page. I apologize about that, but it should be up very soon.

Not Such A Good Night

Lindsay received her transplant 9 days ago! I can't get over how well she is improving. Last night was her first bad night with these new lungs. She was still in pain so she was given some pain meds and then she wasn't able to go to sleep so she was given a sleeping aid. Well it was either the combination of the 2 or the sleeping meds that turned her night into a horrific one. She was having the same dream over and over and it was quite bothersome to her so she stayed awake. It seemed to her that she was beginning to hallucinate because all of her friends were in her room making plans to go places and she tried to talk to some of them but they just ignored her and left. I called her this morning and she was very upset because she was confused and it was frightening to her. I rushed to the hospital to see if I can be of help to her in calming her down. She seemed to be ok besides her feeling alone and confused about these hallucinations. She was able to take a nap while I was there but when she woke up she began to see things that were not even happening. I didn't know how to handle it because I have never seen anyone do this. I wasn't sure if I should play along, or if I should tell her that what she was seeing was not happening. But I didn't want to do that in case I scared her even more. So when she told me some of her friends were in the bathroom I asked her if I should open it to see if they were there. She knew they were not there, but she saw them in the bathroom. Same thing with the T.V. she asked if I had turned the T.V. on, but it was never on. So I just asked her if she wanted me to turn it on for her. She has been off of her pain meds today and switched to Tylenol and she will not be taking a sleeping aid tonight. I hope last night will be the only night she experiences that. She didn't get discharged today because new prescriptions were made today and they are still at the pharmacy and we are waiting on an antibiotic to see if Kaiser is paying for it or Stanford. It mostly likely a go tomorrow. On a good note Lindsay was able to go outside and have a break from her room and all of the nurses. She was finally able to be outside and see the gardens. It was only for 15 minutes but it was nice for her to go outside and be free from her room.


Please NO SMOKING! You can't really tell, but Lindsay is smiling in these photos :)

Walking and Talking

A few of us went to see Lindsay today and she had another busy day. She went on a morning walk all by herself and in the afternoon she walked with a few of her friends. She finally took a shower today and she felt so much better. I think she had a good day also because we meet a new nurse and she was just the coolest but also VERY professional ;) We even snagged a picture of her before she stabbed Lindsay with her insulin! The picture is a little blurry.
Another Dr. came to update us on her discharge and we are still hoping for tomorrow. It could be another day if her new lungs don't expand. The Dr. told us that the lungs will expand but it usually takes patients a few days and some a few weeks. He noticed in her x-rays there is still some spacing that could be filled. He is not concerned because it is not threatening, but he would like to keep her for another day if x-rays are not better tomorrow. So please pray for that.

She has already raise $50 online for fundraising, so keep it up and tell all of your friends!
Hopefully Lindsay will be discharged tomorrow and if so maybe she can blog a bit for you all. Please keep Lindsay in your prayers as the Lord has many plans for her.