The Foehl Gang on sleigh ride on Dec. 26 (minus Whitney & Chris).Greetings to all my stars and angels!
We wish you a very belated happy heart day/Valentine's Day, and even a very Happy Hannukah, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!!!!! We have been a bit remiss about posting, which means that things have been relatively calm and normal. I guess, too calm, so we decided to shake things up a bit!
This past Tuesday, Feb. 10, I had my 8-mon. biopsy, which went well enough . . . but my biopsies are always a bit difficult and the docs, unfortunately, punctured my right lung again (you may recall this happened on my very first biopsy, June 24, 2008, the day I was discharged from the hospital post-transplant surgery!). Alas, this time it was a complete pnuemothorax (totally collapsed right lung -- first time it was only partial). I had actually gotten all the way home from the hospital and day of appts., when I bent over to take off my boots and felt this sharp sudden pain in the middle of my chest and coughed. I immediately stood up and sat down -- at which point the pain disappeared -- but I called the transplant nurse coordinators. They called me back in about 1/2 an hour, after speaking with the docs, and asked me to come back down to the hospital to get a chest x-ray. So, I drove myself back down, relatively pain free as I was not moving and sitting upright. It was about 3:45 pm at this point. Shea was with the boys, Pete was at work. Dr. Toosi and Shirley, one of the transplant nurses, came into the radiology waiting area within minutes of my having had the xray with grim looks on their faces and asked "How are you feeling?" I knew that was not a good sign. They told me about the lung, and that I would have to be admitted to the hospital and have another chest tube put in to remove the air. It was now about 5:00 pm, Pete got to the hospital shortly thereafter, Pete arranged for the kids to go next door to Melissa and Ben's for dinner, and then for the Winkelmans - mom Patty and daughter Hannah - to put the kids to bed. Shea (our nanny) had to get back to SLC, but she kindly gathered a few items/necessities (my glasses, jammie pants, book, cell phone charger, earplugs, etc.) and meet Pete near the hospital to give us the bag). Around 6pm, I got into a semi-private room, temporarily on 4North, the cardiology floor, where my old friend Bill Wong, who was part of my transplant surgical team inserted the chest tube. This time it went above the right breast, below the collarbone -- really not so comfy. So, I spent 1 night in the hospital and the next day the xrays showed the right lung remained re-inflated, so I was able to go home in the late afternoon on Wed. After being discharged, however, we went to another hospital in SLC, St. Marks, where I got the third of three blood tests called Allomap - it is hoped that this blood test will replace biopsies. The protocol is to have 3 tests the first year post-transplant to establish a baseline. Then, assuming one has no rejections, one can use the blood test in lieu of biopsy. So, because of this latest incident, my doctors moved up the third test to correspond with the 8-month biopsy rather than the 1yr./annual biopsy, and I will hopefully have the Allomap blood test and NO biopsy in April, when I would normally have another biopsy!!! We'll keep our fingers crossed. Another piece of good news is that my biopsy last Tuesday was great -- no rejection. So, all in all, we are well, I am well, and I am thankful this little bump was indeed minor. The hardest part was being in the hospital overnight, not being with the boys and Pete. Pete relayed that Liam was very upset when he could not find me Wednesday morning - the first time he has really had a very visible reaction to my not being home. Thankfully, it was only 1 night/day.
There is probably lots more to write, but I will just let you know that we are having a good winter. I am back to work part-time, 3 days/week. We had wonderful Christmas holidays with all the Foehls here (14 of us in all) - it was really fun -- hectic but great. Mason, Pete, and I have been skiing quite a bit, and Liam has even been on skis once so far! We hope you are all well, happy, healthy, and enjoying life.
Here are a couple of recent photos for your enjoyment!
. . . TWO BIRDS, NO TWO PLANES, NO . . . THEY ARE SUPERBOYS aka Mason & Liam
Up on "9990" at the Canyons, the peak that is 9,990 feet that one hikes to above the lift and then skis down. A beautiful, fun day skiing with the Wiczeks (photo is Em, Pete, and Melissa, looking West at the Salt Lake Valley. Ben is taking it.) -- Mason and Hanna W. were in ski school, Grace W. was with her ski team, and Liam and Paul W. were home having fun with Sophie Winkelman.
