The day after Memorial Day, Trent got his new lungs. Today, the day after Independence Day, Coach Todd is using those lungs as he moves closer and closer to freedom...from hospitals, from breathing treatments, from complete dependence on loved ones and medical professionals for everything that he so easily did himself for so many years.
This movement toward freedom has given him a new room - M80, Room 16. It has given him six hours of rehab per day to regain the strength that he needs. It has given him control over his medications. And, most importantly, it has given him back in-person motivation from his two biggest cheerleaders, Bryce and Sophia, who are in Cleveland for their second visit as I type.
Trent's own Independence Day is going so well that Jill has decided to come home to Cincinnati with the kids tomorrow. While she will finally get a chance to sleep in her own bed, catch up at work, spend some quality time with Bryce and Sophia, and eat something that didn't emerge from a paper sack, Coach Todd will give the doctors, nurses and therapists 20...and 20 more...and 20 more. The "20" will not be push-ups (at least not yet) but instead 20 minutes of talking without a breathing treatment; 20 steps without support; 20 days without infection. He will continute to push; we will continue to pray.
Trent has a lot of work ahead of him. Like anyone who has ever "paused" their exercise program (but to the extreme), his muscles have atrophied during the months that he has focused only on breathing. In addition to building strength, he is learning a very strict medication schedule to prevent himself from rejecting his new lungs. He is also getting used to the ins and outs of his new life as a transplant recipients, practices and precautions that will one day seem routine but for now can be overwhelming (can you imagine how hard it was for him not to hug his surgeons when he woke up?).
This week, be praying for safe travels for Jill, Sophia and Bryce, and for a very normal week at home. Be praying for patience and endurance for Trent as he pushes through his therapy. And as we continue to celebrate the amazing gift that Coach Todd received, be praying for the families who lost someone over this holiday weekend and had to make the difficult decision to give that same gift to someone else.
The Todds
I'll keep pushing, you keep praying!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Update #48 - Life is Good
Lots of good news tonight in a very short post.
First, Trent is out of the ICU and back in the Transplant Unit on the eighth floor! Still no visitors - his body is fighting hard to ward off infection without an immune system - but Jill and Trent have their own "apartment" again, complete with a recliner for Jill to sleep in and a view of Cleveland. The room is small, but it's much larger than the ICU waiting room efficiency that Jill had set up for a while...and it has a shower. :-)
Second, food! Real, solid food! Well, solid, hospital food (can't always be called real food), but food just the same.
Third, no more supplemental oxygen! Trent is breathing room air, and his oxygen saturation level (O2 sat) is at 98% (out of 100%) - that's better than many "healthy" people!
Sorry for the bullet points, but I wanted to make sure the info got up tonight. There are a couple of people from the Cinci area who are headed up to Cleveland this weekend - not to visit (have I mentioned NO VISITORS?) but to drop off cards, etc. at the hospital, so if you have something that you want to make the trip but don't want to send by mail, drop a comment on the blog or leave a note on the Friends of Trent Todd Facebook page, and I'll get you in contact with the appropriate delivery person.
I'm sure I don't even have to say it, but Trent is still pushing...you keep praying!
First, Trent is out of the ICU and back in the Transplant Unit on the eighth floor! Still no visitors - his body is fighting hard to ward off infection without an immune system - but Jill and Trent have their own "apartment" again, complete with a recliner for Jill to sleep in and a view of Cleveland. The room is small, but it's much larger than the ICU waiting room efficiency that Jill had set up for a while...and it has a shower. :-)
Second, food! Real, solid food! Well, solid, hospital food (can't always be called real food), but food just the same.
Third, no more supplemental oxygen! Trent is breathing room air, and his oxygen saturation level (O2 sat) is at 98% (out of 100%) - that's better than many "healthy" people!
Sorry for the bullet points, but I wanted to make sure the info got up tonight. There are a couple of people from the Cinci area who are headed up to Cleveland this weekend - not to visit (have I mentioned NO VISITORS?) but to drop off cards, etc. at the hospital, so if you have something that you want to make the trip but don't want to send by mail, drop a comment on the blog or leave a note on the Friends of Trent Todd Facebook page, and I'll get you in contact with the appropriate delivery person.
I'm sure I don't even have to say it, but Trent is still pushing...you keep praying!
Friday, June 17, 2011
Update #47 - Just Breathing
Breathing is rarely exciting. But less than three weeks after a lung transplant, breathing is all the excitement we could hope for.
Trent continues to do well, working on his breathing exercises, sitting in his chair, watching a lot of stupid daytime TV, spending quality time with Jill. Slow updates are the best updates...no news means life is as normal as it can get in the hospital.
One quick apology - I mis-spoke (typed) about Father's Day in my last post. Sophia and Bryce will celebrate Father's Day with their dad, but it will be on their own Father's Day - not June 19th but as soon as Trent is able to have visitors. No matter what day it falls on for them, though, I'm sure it will mean so much more this year...
On the note of visitors, just another reminder that Trent still cannot afford exposure to the germs that visits would bring. Feel free to send him your love, encouragement, prayers, jokes and workout routines via Facebook, blog, email or snail mail, but save the in-person affection for later. If the warning of infection isn't enough of a deterrent for you, just remember the Trent that we knew before pulmonary fibrosis and know that visits mean a Coach Todd who will exhaust himself trying to entertain you, and will likely make himself sick in the process. We all want to see Trent...but we want him healthy even more.
Dads, hug your kids a little harder this Sunday, and kids, hug your dads. And if you think of it, throw a little extra love in there for Trent and his kids... Even miles away, you know they'll still be loving each other even more this year.
Keep praying...
Trent continues to do well, working on his breathing exercises, sitting in his chair, watching a lot of stupid daytime TV, spending quality time with Jill. Slow updates are the best updates...no news means life is as normal as it can get in the hospital.
One quick apology - I mis-spoke (typed) about Father's Day in my last post. Sophia and Bryce will celebrate Father's Day with their dad, but it will be on their own Father's Day - not June 19th but as soon as Trent is able to have visitors. No matter what day it falls on for them, though, I'm sure it will mean so much more this year...
On the note of visitors, just another reminder that Trent still cannot afford exposure to the germs that visits would bring. Feel free to send him your love, encouragement, prayers, jokes and workout routines via Facebook, blog, email or snail mail, but save the in-person affection for later. If the warning of infection isn't enough of a deterrent for you, just remember the Trent that we knew before pulmonary fibrosis and know that visits mean a Coach Todd who will exhaust himself trying to entertain you, and will likely make himself sick in the process. We all want to see Trent...but we want him healthy even more.
Dads, hug your kids a little harder this Sunday, and kids, hug your dads. And if you think of it, throw a little extra love in there for Trent and his kids... Even miles away, you know they'll still be loving each other even more this year.
Keep praying...
Monday, June 13, 2011
Update #46 - More Progress
Just a quick update to let you know that things are still going well. Trent sat up in a chair for three hours on Saturday (double his first attempt!), and the doctors gave Jill breathing exercises to help him do during commercial breaks. The goal (and major prayer for this week): get Trent out of the ICU and back to the 8th floor (Transplant Unit) by this weekend, when Sophia and Bryce will finally get to see their dad with his new lungs. Be praying!
Friday, June 10, 2011
Update #45 - Willpower
Well, Trent got his way on one thing yesterday - he got to sit up in a chair for an hour and a half. As soon as he was sitting up, he asked again for a meal and a soda...still no luck on those, but maybe today.
Jill has officially moved out of the waiting room "efficiency apartment" and into the Guest House across the street from Cleveland Clinic. Although she was sad to go, she is enjoying a real bed, lights you can turn off at night, and a "shower" that involves a sink in a bathroom stall.
More good news coming soon! Keep praying!
Jill has officially moved out of the waiting room "efficiency apartment" and into the Guest House across the street from Cleveland Clinic. Although she was sad to go, she is enjoying a real bed, lights you can turn off at night, and a "shower" that involves a sink in a bathroom stall.
More good news coming soon! Keep praying!
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Sidenote - Visiting Cleveland
If you missed Update #44 below, be sure to scroll down and check it out - good stuff!
That being said, because people have been asking about visiting Trent now that he is awake, our resident medical expert (and Trent's personal nurse when he is in Cincinnati) Ronda wanted to give some guidelines. Based on her experience and recommendations, the current request is that nobody aside from close family try to visit Trent until Jill returns from Cleveland. Her return will indicate that he has progressed out of any significant danger (and likely that he is out of the ICU) and that he may be able to see visitors for short amounts of time (knowing Trent, Jill will have to be the one to enforce the "short amounts of time." Poor guy hasn't been able to talk in months!).
Because of the immunosuppressive (anti-rejection) meds that Trent is on to prevent him from rejecting his new lungs as foreign bodies, he has no immune system right now. Not only does that put Trent at a HUGE risk for catching anything that visitors might be carrying, it also means that if Jill were to catch something, she wouldn't be able to visit him either. As time goes on, the risk for rejection and infection decreases, but especially during the initial weeks, the best way to protect Trent is to avoid visitors as much as possible.
As things change, we will keep the blog and Facebook updated on Trent's status and when he may be able to have visitors. Until then, just keep praying!
That being said, because people have been asking about visiting Trent now that he is awake, our resident medical expert (and Trent's personal nurse when he is in Cincinnati) Ronda wanted to give some guidelines. Based on her experience and recommendations, the current request is that nobody aside from close family try to visit Trent until Jill returns from Cleveland. Her return will indicate that he has progressed out of any significant danger (and likely that he is out of the ICU) and that he may be able to see visitors for short amounts of time (knowing Trent, Jill will have to be the one to enforce the "short amounts of time." Poor guy hasn't been able to talk in months!).
Because of the immunosuppressive (anti-rejection) meds that Trent is on to prevent him from rejecting his new lungs as foreign bodies, he has no immune system right now. Not only does that put Trent at a HUGE risk for catching anything that visitors might be carrying, it also means that if Jill were to catch something, she wouldn't be able to visit him either. As time goes on, the risk for rejection and infection decreases, but especially during the initial weeks, the best way to protect Trent is to avoid visitors as much as possible.
As things change, we will keep the blog and Facebook updated on Trent's status and when he may be able to have visitors. Until then, just keep praying!
Update #44 - Just As We Suspected
Of course, as soon as we talk about how Trent will wake up when he wants to wake up...he does exactly that.
Last night, Trent decided he was ready to be awake and truly use his lungs for the first time. It happened very suddenly (as expected), and he hasn't stopped talking since (also expected). He wants to know everything the nurses are doing to him, who has been keeping up with his progress (I don't think he's seen the prayer map yet), the names of all of his caretakers... He also wants food, soda, and a chair to sit in (he got stuck with water and tipping his bed up a little further). Anybody surprised by any of this news?
No more machines, very few meds, and LOTS of talking! Trent has new lungs, and he's ready to start living again.
He's still in the ICU, and obviously still has a ways to go, so don't stop praying! That being said, throw up a bunch of praises and prayers of thanks as well - Coach Todd is back!
Last night, Trent decided he was ready to be awake and truly use his lungs for the first time. It happened very suddenly (as expected), and he hasn't stopped talking since (also expected). He wants to know everything the nurses are doing to him, who has been keeping up with his progress (I don't think he's seen the prayer map yet), the names of all of his caretakers... He also wants food, soda, and a chair to sit in (he got stuck with water and tipping his bed up a little further). Anybody surprised by any of this news?
No more machines, very few meds, and LOTS of talking! Trent has new lungs, and he's ready to start living again.
He's still in the ICU, and obviously still has a ways to go, so don't stop praying! That being said, throw up a bunch of praises and prayers of thanks as well - Coach Todd is back!
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