"So you guys just decided I should get a transplant?"

....He's baaaaack! And that is how our first morning conversation began, with Donovan beginning to be more oriented to the here and now, his voice 50% stronger than yesterday.

For those of you who were following the mass emails before this blog, you may remember our journey started Aug 31, with a hospital stay in S'toon, and Donovan being air-ambulanced here on Sept 8. Sept 3, Donovan experienced a massive lung hemmorage, and that is about his last memory, as that led to his being sedated and put on the respirator. As we gently reminded him again today that he was now in Edmonton, and had been here about 9 days, he wondered if we just decided, randomly, that it was time for the transplant. Gulp! What a huge bite of his reality that was for us. We are informing him little by little of the events that led up to our double-lung miracle, but he was still in the place today of wondering what led to his lung bleed of Sept 2. The puzzle pieces will fall into place as he heals. Donovan was also a little ticked today because physio didn't show up when they said they would, and "don't they know how important chest physio is when you have CF?" We were overjoyed to tell him that his "daily beatings" ie. chest percussion and drainage were gone with his old beat-up lungs....forever!!! Yay!!! He does, however, have to do new breathing exercises, and start strengthening all of his bed-ridden muscles!!!

But honestly, "Taste and see that the Lord is good." Today was another good day...are you getting tired of hearing that? I hope not, because we are told to be cautiously optimistic, and so here is where I will vent the good stuff! How about this for openers....today was day one of a liquid diet! Juice! Jell-o! A little trouble swallowing water, but that will come. And that hand-mouth coordination is coming right along....C'mon, how many of you can get a spoon of jello to jiggle right to your mouth every time? Huh? And, are you ready for this, Donovan was told to take off his oxygen tubing...too much oxygen in his blood, upon the hourly blood gas test! Is God extravagantly good to us? C'mon, Donovan, too much oxygen? Are those new lungs bragging???Donovan commented to a doctor today, "what's happened to my dexterity?" Ok, a 4-syllable word on day 3 post-surgery? I think his noggin is doing just fine...and he was informed that the neuro-muscular block they injected him with to help with ventilation will take a while to wear off....

The days are busy in the ICU, with someone bugging the patient about every 5 minutes, IV bags to hang, physio, personal care, blood tests, all the bells and whistles to check, on and on it goes. Rest time is at a premium. The nurses are wonderful, but often stressed and tired. On our prayer list tonite is patience for us, Donovan and the ICU staff. And of course praise for his continued healing...boy, would we like to be out of ICU, but we'll wait it out....

Thanks to the Hagel's for driving Stephen to Amy to come and see us on Friday, and to Bev E. for coming to see us today from Ft. Sask. What a wonderful distraction, those adorable kids. The only problem with today's visit is it really makes me miss preschool! (And you, Laurie!)

And to all who have left wonderful, encouraging comments...thank you so much to every one of you! I am way too low-tech to know how to reply to you on this blog, but if you post your email addresses (if I don't have them) I will try to comment back, if time permits. But know that I read and love the comments. I miss so many of you!!! I want to go home!!!

So tomorrow I am to bring a mirror to the hospital so Donovan can see his "shark-bite" incision, and also his Ipod. Time to get back in touch with the world his Rip-Van-Winkled from a couple weeks ago. Should be a good day!

To my family, know that I am missing being a part of Jason & Jessica's wedding plans, but my heart is with you!

Love & prayers,

Beth