For those of you who have been following my daughter’s journey, she is now out of limbo…well sort of. Last week her lung functions took a dip so her Dr. at Duke said it’s time to move to Durham, NC to start the pre-transplant process. This was sudden and yet very hoped for news. Over the weekend Anna’s dad, stepmom and sister helped her pack up her car. On Sunday, Anna, her dog and her dad, John, began the trek from Colorado to North Carolina. They arrived last night (Tuesday). This is almost the exact same time that Anna and I headed to NC 6 years ago. Amazing!
She will start pulmonary rehab on Thursday. This is an exercise program that all transplant patients are required to go through to prepare their bodies for the grueling transplant surgery and recovery. After about 4 weeks of rehab she will be placed on the waiting list for a pair of lungs. Last time Anna waited just 19 days for her new, gently used lungs. We don’t know how long the wait will be this time but she has been told it is likely longer the second time because the doctors will be more selective hoping to get a better match that her body won’t reject.
The origin of those lungs is another person who dies. That’s a tough aspect of this process. Here we are doing what we can so Anna can live but someone else must die in order for her to get a chance at life. Another family’s loss is our family’s gain. Hard to swallow that. Anna reminds me the person isn’t dying for her, they would die anyway. For those who choose to be organ donors, their inevitable death brings the chance for life to so many others. We are grateful!
This is a new form of limbo for Anna because she’s not moving completely forward yet. But, it’s movement and that is healing for her emotionally. This whole journey does not offer guarantees. I have laid out the plan but anything can happen. We pray and wait expectantly for healing for Anna, for progressive movement toward a transplant, successful recovery and back to active living again. We wait with open hands as none of this is in our control. I learned a lot about waiting on God and understanding He is God and I am not throughout Anna’s last transplant and subsequent cancer journeys 6 years ago. I am leaning into that learning and curious about the different ways God will show up this time around. I’ll be sure to share these learnings with you!
BTW if you are at all interested in contributing to Anna’s COTA fund, click here. COTA is a non-profit that accepts donations on behalf of a specific person. They manage the funds and reimburse Anna for her transplant related expenses (medical co-pays, transportation, housing away from home and food). It’s kind of like Go Fund Me except you are guaranteed that the funds are used only for transplant related expenses and they are tax deductible. 🙂
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