Dad's Journal Entry #1

(Remember these are very brief as a LOT of stuff had to happen prior to transport to California. And my Dad was unable to fly with us out there on the MedJet).

February 23, 2004: "Had to put Katey on the Ventilator today. Went to see her at 8:00 p.m." This was the Monday prior to transplant. I had become progressively worse, and needed to be put on the ventilator in order to make it to transplant. During this time, my Mom was over at an adjacent hospital completing the testing, and my Dad was at home arranging a million of things. I had a favorite nurse stay with me that day. That afternoon, my doctor came in and asked for my permission to put me on the ventilator. I have no recollection of this, but evidently i gave him permission. But the neat part about it is this: Ok, all dr's have to explain associated risks, etc. So my doctor told me that 50% of CF patients that go on a ventilator never come off. And my response was, But that means that half do, right? So there it was. The hard part was that my parents weren't there and I had to call my mom from the ICU right before I was placed on the vent. Imagine that and not knowing if you or from my mom's perspective, your daughter, if you will wake up. Again, I have no recollection of this and have never had since the day I woke up from transplant.

February 24th: (Tuesday morning- lift off day). "The Dr. called at 5:25 A.M. and said that Katey was worse. Mucous was bad and C02 was horrible. Can't transport at this time. I (my Dad) called David (our back up donor) and asked him to pray. Dr. called back in 15 minutes and said Katey was ok now and to come on to the hospital. Miracles! Dr. on the plane was a friend of Jane/Fred (my aunt and uncle). Respiratory Therapist on the plane was a long-time friend of ours. Miracles!!" Pretty amazing..huh? If you haven't read my "about me" profile, my CO2 had risen to about 4 times normal at this time, and my lungs were pretty much non-existent. But because of God's wonderful grace and prayers, I was able to be transported. And having 2 "friends" on the flight was able to calm my mom and Jeff's nerves quite a bit!