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