Good Appointments and progress

Another week of appointments, some of which happened on time.  

The team is excited about Laura's progress.  The swelling is finally gone and she actually gained some weight last night. Going into the transplant, we were told that she could lose as much as 15% of her total weight.  At 110 wet that was a concern.  The swelling threw off our expectations and only recently have we seen her weight bottom out.  She never fell below 100 and with her new found appetite and work outs, she should be able to gain weight and increase her muscle mass quickly.

The core numbers are all coming back in line.  Kidneys are a bit elevated but moving in the right direction.  Iron is still low and thus anemic.  This will likely be an ongoing issue which is not a big surprise.  Hemoglobin was ok but still need improvement.  As the body strengthens this should correct itself too.

The best news was that Laura has tested negative two weeks in a row for Pseudomonas. Pseudomonas is a bacteria that is almost everywhere and most healthy people have or can be carries.  For those with diseases such as CF it is serious and can be deadly.  The long breathing treatments Laura has had to endure twice a day since the transplant and will continue for another 2+ weeks we being done to kill any remaining bacteria she may have in her passage ways.  The new lungs are clean and they want to keep them that way.  Really good news.

As far as the 50+ pills, they are starting to figure out most of the saturation levels.  There are multiple calls per week increasing a dosage based on how her body is absorbing the drugs. The Prograf (anti- rejection drug) has been the most difficult and may be for sometime.  

Google Hangouts has been a tremendous help with Everett. He can call and video chat on his device at will. That has provided a great deal of comfort and security.  We have been able to stream his baseball games as well.  Laura was able to see his first home run live.  That is pretty cool.

All in all everything is good. When you see Laura you will see a new person.  Through it all her smile never left but you will see that there is something more behind it now.  We know we are very lucky.  This could have gone in numerous other directions and at times we thought it may.  We are very thankful for where we are at.  It can't be said enough that none of this is possible without TEAM Z.  The best support group of friends and family possible.

Cheers!