Tuesday night at about 10pm after getting home from class and getting some last minute work done, I sighed. I was looking forward to five days of no books, no schoolwork, no paperwork and lots of food, family, friends and football! Wednesday morning, I woke up around 7am with a plan to go to the gym, clean the house a bit and pack to leave for Pinehurst that afternoon. Of COURSE I checked facebook first. My Mom had posted a status about how her brother, my Uncle Mike, had gotten the call from the Hospital at the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) saying they were inspecting a heart that morning for him.
For those of you who don't know or don't remember, my Uncle Mike had an LVAD put in back in March (you can google it, but it short terms, it helps pump his heart) and he was placed on the heart transplant list in PA. Traditionally big deal aside, it was an even bigger deal, because they didn't think he could leave the state until he received the heart and we were planning on him being our officiant for the wedding in July...in North Carolina! Anywho, it all worked out and he came and it was wonderful
back to Wednesday. He had been number one on the transplant waiting list for about two months, if not more. I called Mom and Mamaw (in Mississippi) and started to prep travel plans, in case they got the call that the heart was in fact a match and the surgery would happen that day. At about 9:30am, I clicked book on the Southwest Airlines site for Mamaw and Grandaddy and Mom called to say she'd be here in Richmond to pick me up around 2. So we hopped in the car and headed north on 95 through DC and Baltimore on the day before Thanksgiving.
Obviously, we knew there would be traffic. Holmes gave us some alternate routes so we didn't have to go straight through the big cities and even with that help, it still took about 9 hours (including a stop for dinner and Wal-Mart to get waiting room snacks). Mom was on the phone with every person who has ever met Uncle Mike letting them know what was going on and that updates would follow. We are a blessed family, to have such a wonderful support system within and also in an extended fashion. Lori and Jamie and others all said they had prayer chains going all throughout their churches. People that have never met us!
The surgery was scheduled for 3:30 and somewhere around that time, Aunt Lisa tells us that they are doing a visual inspection of the heart. Apparently, there was still a possibility to not get a "green light". But we did anyways and he headed down to the OR around four, I think. At 5:59, the first incision was made. The HUP team told Aunt Lisa 4-6 hours. I read on the internet 4-12 hours.
Around 11pm, Mom and I crammed Mamaw, Grandaddy, ourselves and lots of luggage into the Matrix. It held everything, but not exactly comfortably. Fortunately the airport wasn't too far from the hospital. We got lost for the first and only time (an exit no longer existed, so it wasn't our fault). We made it to the hospital and up to the 5th floor SICU waiting room just in time and I mean three minutes before the surgeon walked down the hall to give an update. The heart was in and pumping. This was midnight. Six hours my uncle laid open on the table while surgeons and nurses traded hearts for him. They had another hour to go, getting him all sewn back up and such. At 1:07am, the screen in the waiting room flashed that he was being transferred to recovery. At around 2:30am, we got to go back and see him!
HUP has a hotel attached to it, so we took the grandparents and crashed for the night. Up early at 8ish, I decided to go for a run, because we weren't permitted to see Uncle Mike until later. I ran down a greenway along the river to the Philadelphia Art Museum, my own personal turkey trot. It was a great path and I was glad I thought to take my camera. There was a Thanksgiving/Christmas parade ending at the Art Museum around the time I ran past. I also happened upon the Hokies basketball team while running past the UPENN basketball arena.
Oh! Holmes headed down to Pinehurst the same time we left for Philly...so he was not with us. My in-laws are so wonderful and supportive to be understanding about me not coming like originally planned. I sure did miss them though!
After my run, we got to see Uncle Mike, he was propped up. Still had the breathing tube, so he couldn't talk to us, but he was definitely alert and aware, nodding and smiling as much as possible. It was amazing. This was not even 12 hours after a HEART TRANSPLANT! The doctors and nurses kept coming in with surprised looks on their faces saying "we don't see numbers like this on this floor" (this floor being the surgical ICU).
About 12, Mom and I went to pick up Christina, Uncle Mike's youngest daughter, who was able to get a flight from Mississippi as well. His older daughters decided to wait to make the trip so Aunt Lisa has support spread out during Uncle Mike's recovery. (Wendi leaves next week to go visit, his oldest, and I'm not sure about Brandi, her husband is in Iraq and she has a four year old, they are in Kansas, I hope they get to go soon). Uncle Mike's son, Josh is also in Iraq. But they got to talk on the phone before he went into surgery. When we got Christina back to the hospital, we did some more visiting, then remembered we needed to eat. The cafeteria had Thanksgiving Dinner!!! We all had turkey and dressing (even though we had to explain dressing is the same thing as stuffing, since the staff had no clue what we were asking for), sweet potatoes, rolls, green beans, mac and cheese and what they called pumpkin pie. The pie was rank. But it was still nice to have the tradition there on such a chaotic exciting day. Uncle Mike was already asking for Milky Ways and Diet Mtn Dews. Mamaw and I went back to the hotel to take a nap and sneak in some football watching. Then we visited some more that night with him. At this point, they took out his breathing tube and he was TALKING! The day after, not even 24 hours after, a heart transplant, he was sitting up and talking and joking around with us all!
Friday, the docs were already discussing replacing equipment with lighter loads and were continuing to wean him off the supportive meds and measures. Amazing! The staff at HUP is incredible. The overnighters on a holiday weekend and the Thursday staff were all smiles. No matter they were away from their families on that day, they were happy to be taking care of ours. It was so special (and humbling to be honest). Many of them remembered Mike and Lisa from the last time he was there, for the LVAD surgery. They are memorable for good reasons :) Lots of visiting in and out. Only supposed to be two people in the room with him at a time, but they were slightly lenient at times, and we all got to be there at once a few times.
I ran again, to the Liberty Bell this time. Pretty neat. That afternoon, the girls walked around the shops and such near HUP for a while and let Uncle Mike spend some time with his parents. Mom, Christina and I had dinner at a mexican place down the block. We brought some back to Aunt Lisa...I wouldn't have left if I were her either! Saturday morning, we went to visit Uncle Mike one last time, Mom decided since he was doing so well that we should get back on the road to avoid the Sunday after Thanksgiving travel rush. The drive home still took six hours, but both ways, it wasn't really a bother. We stopped in Richmond to spend the night (help break up the time on the road) and got up early to head down to Greensboro Sunday morning. While we were traveling on Saturday, HUP moved Uncle Mike into a patient room. Not even 72 hours after a heart transplant, he was out of the ICU. Talk about a blessing and a miracle!
Getting home Sunday made it possible for Neena and me to go with Kristin to pick up her wedding dress! We took pictures, but I won't be sharing them here ;) It was beautiful and it was fun to do wedding stuff again! Brian and Elea and Kristin came over to watch the second half of the Panthers game (waste of a football team, ugh) with Mom, Alan, Holmes and me. We had a great time. I haven't seen any of them since our wedding! I was so glad they came by. Then Holmes and I loaded up all our Christmas decorations (six large rubbermaid tubs worth) and hit the road back to VA. We made it home by 8 and the house was fully decorated by 9 (it's not a big house, hahah).
Now it's Monday morning and I have one week left of classes and one week of finals. Two more big assignments, end of the semester clinic paperwork, and three finals to go. I can do this.
Thanks to EVERYONE for all the prayers and good thoughts. It was an amazing Thanksgiving, that's for sure.
That is such an amazing and uplifting story about your Uncle. Awesome!!
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