First Day of Pulmonary Rehab!

Joseph's first day of pulmonary rehab, 3 weeks after his lung transplant.

Joseph is HOME!!

Yesterday at Joseph's doctor's appointment, he was given the final "OK" to be released to go HOME!! We quickly packed up our things at the Mason House and made our way back home for Joseph's first night home in 3 weeks (to the day)!!

Joseph's recovery has been extremely fast!! Patients normally have to stay at the Mason House for 1-2 weeks after being released from the hospital. We were so excited that Joseph's health was improving so quickly that he got to go home after only 3 nights!!

We arrived home and our dogs attacked us with kisses!! They had missed us so much!! After cuddling with them and dropping off our things, my father (Lonnie Mussell) treated us to a meal at one of Joseph's favorite restaurants - LONGHORN STEAKHOUSE!! Mmmmmm.... good stuff!!

We then made a stop at Publix to get a few groceries where we met up with Jennifer Cravey (HEY JENNIFER!!), one of our good friends that we used to go to church with! We got a good movie from the Blockbuster machine, came home and cuddled up to a good movie! It's good to have my honey home!! :)

We got up early this morning for Joseph's first pulmonary rehabilitation session. Joseph did PHENOMENAL!! MUCH BETTER THAN EXPECTED!! We are going to post a video about his session in a few minutes once it finishes downloading! :)

We'll continue to keep you posted on Joseph's journey!!

We love you and appreciate your prayers and support!! Your prayers are the reason why Joseph is doing so well! God is so GOOD!!

ALSO.... in case you've been wondering.... the actual amount we have raised is higher than what the "thermometer" says on the home page. We are still waiting on a few contributions that have been promised to us (totaling $30,000!!!)... so really, we have close to $80,000 now raised!!! WOW!!! PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW!!! There are still those out there who are planning and hosting fundraisers on our behalf so that we can meet our $100,000 goal! THANK YOU SO MUCH TO ALL OF YOU!!! YOU ARE TRULY OUR "SUPERHEROES!" Joseph is feeling better than he has in over 20 years (since 5th grade he says)!! All of this is possible because of YOU!!

Please continue to pray for our donor family as well. We have yet to meet them, but we know that they are still mourning the loss of their loved one. We are so thankful for the gift that they have given us! Joseph will be able to live a long, happy and normal life now. Also, if you aren't an organ donor... PLEASE CONSIDER BECOMING ONE. You never know how many lives your life could save!!

Much love,
~Kayse

JOSEPH RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL

CHIK-FIL-A MOOCOW CHARITY BIKE RIDE

Finally FREE!!

Well, Joseph was released from the hospital yesterday afternoon!! WOO HOO!! We stopped at CVS for a few things and then headed to the Mason House. When we arrived, we were so amazed at how big and beautiful it was! It has an exercise room, game room, movies, library, HUGE kitchen, lots of goodies to eat, and very comfortable rooms. We have a room with a lovely bay window with a window seat and our own tv and dvd player. It's so nice - like a little vacation for us! We should be here for a few more days and then Joseph should get the final release to go home.

For Joseph's first night out we decided to go and eat at one of our new favorite spots - Mellow Mushroom with two of Joseph's best buds- Michael and Robbe. We got a barbecue chicken pizza that was absolutely AMAZING. It was so nice to be able to get out and have fun again! Joseph is doing so great and was REALLY enjoying not having to eat another hospital meal!

We also had to make a quick stop at our house as we had some medication there that Joseph needed. The dogs were so excited to see Joseph after he had been gone for almost 3 weeks!! It was kinda sad that we had to leave them again... but, we really weren't supposed to be that far away from the hospital... so we headed back up to the Mason House pretty quickly. The doctors just want to keep Joseph close by in case of an emergency. He's doing fine, but they just take those precautions with every transplant patient.

Well... this morning we had breakfast and came back to our room where we started our new regimine of meds!! Joseph had to take a handful of medications, insulin (for his high blood sugar caused by one of his new meds), vital signs (blood pressure, temperature, weight, blood sugar levels), and finally a breathing treatment!! This is going to take some getting used to!! He has to record his vital signs three times a day, and take heavy doses of medication every morning and night!! Hopefully in the next several months, many of these medications will be tapered off... but for now, this is his new routine. Please continue to agree with us that these meds will work well and ONLY do what they are supposed to do! We don't want any nasty side effects!!

Well... I think my hubby and I are going to cuddle up to a good movie and relax without having nurses interrupt us every five minutes..... that will be nice! :) We definitely appreciate the work that the nurses and doctors have done, but it is so NICE to finally get some good rest!!

We love you guys! Thanks again for your continued prayers and support!!
~Kayse

FREEE...Sort of.

The last of Joseph's 4 chest tubes was removed today and the doctors are discharging him tomorrow...to the Mason House. The Mason House is basically like a recovery center thats set up like a bed&breakfast located just down the road from Emory where transplant patients and their families can go to recover for a few days while they are having to still make frequent visits to the hospital for various test's, exams, and labs. Since Joseph is doing so well...we are hoping that his stay in the Mason House is a short one and we can have him HOME soon! THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT AND PRAYERS!!! WE LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Tube #3 Out!!!

Chest tube #3 came out today. One more to go! The only thing the doctors are waiting on before pulling the fourth tube is for less than 150cc of fluid release in a 24 hour period. As far as everything else...Joseph is doing WONDERFUL!!! (Praise God...Seriously...take a moment and praise God with us!) Love ya'll!!!

The Beginning of the Journey...

In about 13 hours, it will be exactly 2 weeks since we received the phone call that Joseph's new lungs were ready!!

Wow... what an amazing journey this has been for us! To see how far Joseph has come in such a short amount of time just amazes me! Joseph has regained so much strength and has been doing so well!! He's been walking around the hospital, exercising on his stationary bike in his room, and NOT having to use oxygen to help him!! He is able to breathe DEEPLY for the first time in over 20 years!! Wow!! God is so good!!

As easy as his recovery has been, we know that this is just the beginning of a very long road ahead of us! We met with our transplant coordinator, Melissa, the other day to go over Joseph's schedule for the next year. Every week over the next 12 weeks, Joseph will have to come to Emory for tests and lab work. He will be taking 13 different medications and several of them will have to be monitored closely to see how his body responds. They have to get the perfect balance of meds, and every person is different in how their body handles them. Once this balance is found, he won't have to go in for testing quite as often. Instead of every week, it will be once or twice a month every month until next October.

The primary concern now is rejection and infection. Whenever someone has a transplant, their body will try to attack the new organ because it does not recognize it. Because of this, Joseph will need to take anti-rejection medication for the rest of his life. These drugs will suppress his immune system so that his body will not attack his new lungs. However, the problem with this is that without a strong immune system, his body will be very vulnerable to infection. Unfortunately, of all the organs, the lungs are the most problematic in this area as they are exposed to outside elements ALL of the time! Therefore, Joseph will also have to take anti-infection medications forever as well. Joseph will also be taking several supplements, including calcium, magnesium, folic acid and a multi-vitamin.

With all of the medications he will be taking, there can sometimes be some bad side-effects. However, we know that God is bigger than ALL of those things!! Recently, during a meeting with Pastor Scott Reece, he taught us a new way to pray. He said that when Joseph takes his medications to pray that they "ONLY do what they are supposed to do to HELP his body." We thought that was a really great way to pray. Please pray that prayer with us as well. We don't want any damage to be done to Joseph's kidneys or liver, or any other part of his body!! Please pray also that his body will not need to take high dosages of the anti-rejection medication. I am truly believing for a miracle for his body to completely ACCEPT these new lungs and to treat them as if they were his from birth! Wouldn't that be awesome?? :)

We asked Melissa (our transplant coordinator) about success stories of other patients who have had lung transplants. She told us of several. One in particular is a nurse who has lived 19 years since her lung transplant and is doing GREAT!! Hearing this was definitely an encouragement to us!!

We know that God is truly a MIGHTY God and He is fighting for Joseph!! He will live A LONG LIFE!! He shall not die, but LIVE to proclaim the works of the Lord!!"(Psalm 118:17)

As always, we love you guys! Thank you for your prayers and continued support!!
Blessings!
~Kayse

The MOMENT WE'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR / GOD IS FAITHFUL

Joseph's first interview after the transplant.

It's hard to believe that a week ago today we were all sitting in a waiting room anxiously awaiting the good news that Joseph's new lungs were in and working great!! The past week has definitely been a whirlwind of emotions for us all, but seeing Joseph today and how well he is doing is such an amazing testimony of God's faithfulness and goodness in our lives! God has been SO good to us!!

This video blog was recorded last night. We are just so thankful for all of the prayers and support we have received from all of our wonderful family and friends! Some of the most precious gifts we have received have come from those of you that we have yet to meet. We are just so touched that so many people have given to help Joseph and yet have never met him! One of the most amazing gifts we received recently was from Luella Baptist Church in Locust Grove, GA. They blessed us with over $11,000!!! This church is very small with about 50 members, and most of them have never met Joseph, and yet they have given SO GENEROUSLY to help him!! We are just blown away!!! We pray that God multiplies his blessings back to this church a hundred-fold and that they are given many more oppotunities to bless God's people and more importantly to bring many more people into the Kingdom of God!! Words cannot express the gratitude we feel right now!!

Thank you again to ALL of you who have supported us financially and especially with your prayers over the past couple of months!! We are just so thankful that God has placed so many wonderful people in our lives! We are truly blessed!! Please continue to pray for Joseph as he continues to recover. Pray against infection and rejection specifically and that he will get to come home soon! :)

We love you all!! Please continue to help us get the word out! We have raised over $50,000 already, but we still have a long way to go! We know that with your help we can get there!!

WE LOVE YOU!!!

AGAINST ALL ODDS - THE JOSEPH MCCANNE STORY

Short film written, directed, shot, edited and produced by Michael B. Hardie and Worship Through the Arts.
(www.worshipthroughthearts.com)

Special thanks to Gary Molander and Floodgate Productions for their contribution.
(www.floodgateproductions.com)

A SIGH OF RELIEF

Hi everyone... It's Michael.

Just wanted to give everyone an update on Joseph's condition today. The family has been in and out of the room all day {for good reason I might add} so updating the blog has not been the first thing on their minds.

OK... let me just say that since the surgery it's only been 3 days since I have been able to have a conversation with my best friend but ... It seems like it's been 3 years. I didn't get a chance to see him yesterday when he woke up and was trying to talk and it just about ripped my heart out. So when I arrived at Emory today I was anxious to say the least. I walked into the ICU and walked back to his room. I couldn't go in until I got all the gear on{Mask-Gloves-Gown} so I was standing outside the room looking at him saying... I'm coming ...I'm coming! The stupid gloves wouldn't go on right and I ripped a hole in the gown. Ok... I digress.... I finally got suited up and was able to make my way to the bedside. I can't even tell you how AWESOME it was to see him alert and talking and smiling! I just squeezed his hand and didn't want to let go. Even though Joseph is obviously in allot of pain and still looks like the bionic man... he is back to his old self... full of humor and concern for everyone but himself.

The main surgeon came in and gave Kayse and I an awesome report. He said that Jo is recovering way ahead of schedule. He didn't think he would come off the ventilator until Monday and he came off it yesterday... so instead of coming off the vent on Monday he is saying he may be able to move to a normal room. AWESOME!!!!

So .... Once again we want to say thank you to all of you who have been keeping up with everything and for praying most of all.

It won't be long till Joseph is back home ... new and improved...

Alright ... that's all for now...

Michael

It's a great morning!

Well, Joseph is doing wonderful!! He was awake again this morning and even MORE alert than before! He was able to open his eyes, squeeze our hands three times to say "I love you," move his arms and legs, and even write us notes on a pad of paper!! The nurses and the doctors are all so impressed with his progress and feel that he will be able to come off the ventilator today. We are so excited for him!

While we were in his room a few minutes ago, he struggled to communicate with us. With the ventilator on he was unable to talk. This was very frustrating for him. He was trying to give us signs as best as he could, but it was hard for us to understand what he was trying to say. We then got a pen and pad for him to write on and he wrote, "I can't talk." It was so pitiful! The next message he wrote was, "do you need chairs in here?" Even with everything he was going through and feeling as bad as he was, he was concerned about our well being!! What a sweetie pie!! He even took time to tell his nurse Emmanuel thank you... he pointed to him and gave him the "okay" sign with his fingers. He's just so sweet!! He's always thinking of others and wanting them to feel important and appreciated!!

With all of the tubes and machines he is hooked up to right now, he's pretty uncomfortable. Please continue to pray for him today and that he will be able to rest and continue to recover so that he can be taken off the ventilator.

Thank you all for your prayers and support! We love you! If you haven't already, please check out the video updates below!

TRANSPLANT UPDATE 3

FIRST DAY TIMELINE

First of all we want to convey a HUGE THANK YOU to all of you who have been keeping up with us through this whole process. Joseph loves you all very much and if he could right now he would tell you so. 36 people made their way through the doors of Emory yesterday for one purpose: to love on and support Joseph and the family. Along with the 36, there were hundreds if not thousands of people joining us in prayer yesterday from 6 continents including these countries; Afghanistan, Kenya, Australia, Columbia, Honduras, Israel, Korea, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. And that's just the ones we can recall! After Lonnie Mussell (Joseph's father in law) shared this with a friend his friend said “well I have friends in the Southern tip of Chile who can strap a prayer to the back of a penguin and send it across a few miles of ocean to Antarctica to make it all SEVEN continents! (We didn’t do that, but we are crazy enough to LOL!)

Below is a timeline of what took place yesterday:

1:30 am Wednesday morning: Joseph wakes up and doesn't know why he feels so awake (or bright eyed and bushy tailed as he says)

1:45 am Joseph receives the call from Emory to come right away because they have some lungs for him

4:00 am at this point Joseph has been examined and they have determined that everything looks good and the doctor will fly out to get the lungs (we don't know where he had to fly for privacy reasons but we do know that the donor was young, so we need to continue to pray for the donor family as they are mourning the loss of their loved one today)

6:00 am the doctor returns with the lungs and they take Joseph to surgery

8:00 am we get a call saying they are about to begin the surgery

11:00 am, we got an update that they were about to take Joseph’s right lung out and put the new right lung in and they would call us with an update before starting the left one

1:00 pm, we got the update that the right lung was in and working great. They would now start on the left lung

2:00 pm, just an hour later we get the call that BOTH lungs are in and working fine. They will continue to monitor him a while and then sew him up and take him to ICU after

2:45 pm, they let us know they were closing him up and the doctor would come to speak with us after they finish and transfer Joseph to the ICU

4:30 pm, The doctor came to speak with us and he said that he felt very positive about everything but wanted to monitor the inflammation and watch for any excess bleeding. They had to put Joseph on a heart-lung bypass machine for 4 hours which caused the lungs to become inflamed.

5:45pm The Doctor decided to take Joseph back to the O.R. due to excessive bleeding. His blood wouldn’t clot and the lungs continued to swell and ooze blood. They had to re-open, drain, stitch, and clean. He was also given countless units of blood.

9:00 pm, the doctor came to speak to us and said that the 2nd surgery went well and the blood was clotting much better and his oxygenation levels were even better than before. So everything was looking great!

1:30am ICU called and said Joseph was waking up. Kayse (wife), Sherry (mom), Adrianne (sister), and Nadine (Grandmother) rushed down from the waiting room to see him. He could not open his eyes but was defiantly aware of their presence. The doctor asked him to move his feet and he did!!!! This was very exciting. His sister asked him to lift his eyebrows and he did!!! The ladies continued to talk to him and tell him of all the prayers and people who came to visit. While holding Joseph’s hand, Sherry (mom) said, “Baby, I love you” Joseph was able to lightly squeeze her hand 3 times, which is code for I love you too!

7:30am Dr. says he is recovering well and they lowered his ventilator to provide 30% oxygen (it was once at 100%). Normal room air provides 21% oxygen so they want to get him down to that amount. They tell the family that they are keeping him very sedated for the rest of the day to allow his body to recover from all of the trauma.

Stay tuned for more updates…

He's Awake!

Well, it has been a LONG 24 hours!!! It is now 2:20 AM on Thursday morning.... A lot has happened since we got the phone call at 1:45 Wednesday morning!!

Joseph has received such AMAZING care here at Emory and the doctors and nurses who have fought for him are my biggest heroes right now!!! They are just so amazing!! They kept us informed every step of the way as the transplant progressed. Things went well, but after the procedure Joseph was continuing to bleed A LOT.... so much so that they had to bring him back into the operating room at about 6:00 last night to do another surgery to take care of the excess blood that was pooling in his chest cavity and to try and stop the bleeding as much as possible. We were able to see him briefly before they took him back into surgery again. That was some of the hardest moments of my life (and I know for his mom, sister, and grandma!!) We all felt so hopeless - but something inside of me just screamed NO! This wasn't going to end this way! I felt something rise up in my heart and I just pointed my finger at Joseph and said, "Joseph McCanne! You shall not die, but you WILL live to proclaim the works of the Lord! You are healed! Your lungs are whole!! You wil die an OLD MAN one day!!" It was strange... as the words came out of my mouth, I almost didn't know who was speaking them. It kind of shocked me, actually. I know that it wasn't me. I didn't have the strength inside of me to do that. I know it was the Lord... He was fighting for us that night!!

They took him back for the surgery and worked for about three hours. They gave him countless units of blood.... it was pretty scary there for a while. But, at about 9:30 Dr. Force (the primary surgeon) came to tell us the good news that Joseph was doing much better! The bleeding had been controlled, his blood was starting to clot finally, and they were able to remove the excess blood that was pressing against his new lungs. Seeing the doctor smile at us made releif just rush through my heart!!

We were able to go back and see him in small groups about an hour later. He was still under heavy sedation, but we were able to hold his hand and love on him a little.

Joseph's mom, grandma, sister and I searched for a place to crash for a few hours and found a WONDERFUL hideaway room close by all to ourselves! We got a couple of hours of sleep and the nurse just called us at about 1:45 AM to let us know that Joseph was AWAKE!! We rushed to his room and although he was unable to speak to us, he wiggled his toes and raised his eyebrows when we asked him questions!! He even raised one eyebrow higher than the other in a mischevious kind of way - he's such a nut!! He's doing so much better now!! They are already slowly weaning him off the ventilator and think he will be off of it completely later today!! WOW!!! That is just AMAZING!!!

Thank you so much for your prayers for Joseph over the past 24 hours!! We are so thankful for so many wonderful friends and family who have surrounded us during this time to cover us all in prayer!! Ya'll are our heroes!! We love you so much!! Pastor Scott Reece said that tonight Facebook was "Josephbook" and he was right!! Every post had something to do with Joseph and I know that he was being lifted in prayer literally across the globe!! THANK YOU ALL!!! Please continue to pray and rejoice with us as Joseph continues to recover over the next several weeks.

Check on the website or Facebook regularly for more updates!!

We're going to try and get some more sleep now if we can - we're so excited!!! God is SO good!!

Much love!
~Kayse (and Adrianne, Sherry, and Gee Gee)

TRANSPLANT UPDATE 2

THE TIME HAS COME!

Joseph and Kayse talk about getting the call only 2 weeks after being put on the list.

The lungs have been flown in and Joseph is prepped and ready to be put under. Here are the final moments before they wheel him back.

Chick-Fil-A MooCow L4J Charity Ride

Are you a Biker? Do you know any? Join us October 17th for a great ride beginning in Newnan and ending in Rock, GA. Destination:: The Rock Ranch Hot Air Balloon Competition!!!

For More Information e-mail us at... Info@Lungs4Joseph.com

Family Fun Night

The Lungs4Joseph Fun Night/Walk-a-Thon was alot of fun! Thank You ALL that Volunteered, Sponsored and/or came out for a wonderful time!!! It was so good to see so many of you out there!!! You just don't know how encouraging it is to know that I have your support in all of this! God has truly blessed me with an awesome community of friends! I love ya'll.

~Joseph