A breath of fresh air!

[C3PO]

May the Force be with you.

 

[dgatsoulis]

I just got word from one of David's friends so here is a quick update:

"He's still in a lot of pain but they are discussing him being able to go home soon. He's made a few facebook posts to me but it's very hard for him to concentrate and difficult to type on a tablet. Just wanted to let you know he's slowly getting better."

 

[paddy2]

Hope you will soon be walking on the Moon, mate

 

[wehaveaproblem]

Best wishes for a speedy recovery, mate.

 

[Face]

Sad to hear that you still suffer a lot of pain from the surgery, but a new pair of lungs and the easier breathing will hopefully enhance your life quality quite a bit, once recovered. I wish you all the best, David!

 

[FordPrefect]

Get well soon David! Best wishes!

 

[dgatsoulis]

And a new update, this time from the man himself!

Progress

I am feeling quite good today. This is the first day since transplant that I have felt awake at all. The surgeon came by my room this afternoon to have a look. He said the right side lung seems to be done draining, so they removed the drain tube on that side. That made an immediate difference in how I felt. Having that thick drain tube in my chest is very uncomfortable. I still have fluid coming from the left lung so that tube will stay in, but thinks he can take it out in the morning. So all in all things are going as well as anyone could reasonably expect.

 

[Eccentrus]

Very sad to hear that you have to underwent such a painful and dangerous procedure, here's from me praying for the probe to give you speedy recovery and long good healthy years to come.

 

[dgatsoulis]

Update:

All the tubes are out, bandages removed, and I'm off the heart monitor. Possibly going home tomorrow, but that is not certain.

I have to come back to the hospital pretty much every day for the first 2 weeks. The anti-rejection medication can be very hard on the body so they need to draw blood 2 or 3 times a week to make sure I'm getting enough of the drug for my body to not try and destroy the new lungs, but at the same time they have to basically make sure they don't poison me to death in the process.
After a couple of weeks, if everything is looking good on their end, then I will just have a weekly visit for a while, then monthly and so on.
I'm very excited to know that I will soon be able to get outside and walk down the street and not feel like it's killing me.

 

[Ripley]

Good to see you smile David!!
Go go go!!!!!! :thumbup:

 

[HazMatt]

Speedy recovery to a great Orbinaut!

David Courtney announced today that he is recovering from a double lung transplant. You may also recognize him by his username blixel.

David is a very skillful and knowledgeable Orbiter user who has posted over a hundred detailed Orbiter tutorials on YouTube and has helped countless people on this forum.

Please join me in wishing David a quick and complete recovery.


His Orbiter tutorials on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/DavidWCourtney

His Orbiter page on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/OrbiterSpaceFlightSimulator

 

[Interceptor]

To a speedy recovery,and many new tutorials in your future,thanks David,get well soon.

 

[Cairan]

In the eternal words said to Johh Glenn: "Godspeed!" Have a quick recovery!

 

[SolarLiner]

"Blixel, final approach."
Have a speedy recovery and a soft touchdown

 

[garyw]

David is a very skillful and knowledgeable Orbiter user who has posted over a hundred detailed Orbiter tutorials on YouTube and has helped countless people on this forum. http://www.facebook.com/OrbiterSpaceFlightSimulator

And those tutorials have helped the new and experienced alike, I still refer to them from time to time to brush up on my skills.

David, Very best wishes for a speedy recovery to you. :tiphat:

 

[blixel]

Hello from home sweet home.

I've been home since Tuesday night, but this is the first time where I've felt centered enough to be able sit down at the computer without having my eyes roll to the back of my head from nausea.

Thanks dgatsoulis for starting this thread. I really appreciate the thoughts and concerns. Even though we don't "know" each other, we have this awesome thing called Orbiter that binds us in a unique way.

When I got home Tuesday evening, I felt awful. I didn't want to do anything except lay down. Just prior to leaving the hospital, I had a bronchoscopy done. The sedation medication they gave me made feel extremely nauseated after I came out of the daze. It was so bad that I really didn't even want to go home at that point. I wanted to stay another night just to get the sick feeling out of my head, but I was already committed to leaving.

Once I got home and was able to lay down, I was of course glad to be back in my own private, comfortable space again. But without the help of the nurses, the routine of taking medications and checking my vital signs quickly became a real burden during those first couple of days back at home.

I am taking upwards of 30+ pills per day at the moment. In addition to that, I am taking IV antibiotics 3x per day (1 hour per dose.) And I have to check my blood sugar regularly because the anti-rejection medications really screw with your blood sugar levels even if you're not a diabetic.

So my new full time job is just taking care of myself.

Fortunately, the amount of medication I take will trickle off significantly over the coming weeks and months. The antibiotics (pill & IV) are just 10-14 days. I have other meds that, to my understanding, I will have to take for 6 months to 1 year. And the rest are to be taken for life.

With each passing day, things are getting a bit easier as I'm finding a new routine.

Well, that is all for now. The eyes are already starting to zig-zag and roll backwards.

Here is a picture from this morning.

It's not real flattering, I'm looking pretty skeletal at the moment.

 

[Mojave]

"And the rest are to be taken for life."


I assume those would be the anti-rejection medication?

In any case, atleast you're doing well. Glad you made it through it all without any problems.

Take care.

 

[Mojave]

Glad to hear the intakes are functioning!

 

[PhantomCruiser]

Get well soon Blixel! Looking forward to some future video tutorials from you.

 

[dbeachy1]

Welcome home!! Get well soon, mate! :thumbup: