Bringing home the Gold!

A great day here in Edmonton! It was rise and shine & out the door to clinic...with nothing but good reports...Don't you just love Friday? The doc today was very pleased with Donovan's progress. His flows are up to the highest yet,(FEV1 of 76%) and he really encouraged Donovan to begin to "push it" with his cardio. Although we were told it would be unrealistic to expect 100% lung function, the theory goes that the harder you work, the more the lungs will give you...so we will definitely be pushing it. He confided that physio-rehab was for "old people"...(probably referring to this author's age)! Dr. Nader told us the story of twin girls with CF from his home in California who both had lung transplants in their 20's and went on to win Gold medals at the Transplant Games. Didn't know much about the Games, so will have to look into that. Donovan has told us he definitely wants to be able to run with Scout in the near future.

More good news...weight is also best yet, at 60.2 kilos. Prednisone is decreased to 15mg and will soon be at 10mg where it will remain for a year. The prednisone is giving Donovan the cutest little puffy cheeks, which I'm not allowed to pinch! It's also helping his appetite and we welcome that. They are talking about switching his diabetes management to "carb counting" or estimating what you will eat at a meal and dosing your insulin according to that instead of following a scale depending on your blood sugar results. This will decrease the amount of insulin needed, and we're still hoping Donovan's tired old pancreas will kick in and we'll be able to do away with all the pokes...wouldn't that be great?

Still haven't figured out the problem with our microspirometer...that device used for home PFT's. It isn't broken apparently, but it's not giving accurate readings. This leads us to believe it's a technique problem. So, please pray Donovan will be able to enhance his technique for this very important part of his new lung management...he needs to record his findings each day...any decline of 15% or more over three days could mean organ rejection. It's vital that he be able to do this test accurately each time once we head home! Thanks!

Out to a Japanese restaurant today for supper with my friends Verla & Bernie, and Donovan's friend Chantal and her sister. Also shopping for my grandbaby to be with Katie who is starting to feather the nest for next Valentine's day...newborn sleepers, tiny little socks, cute little hat, can't wait!

The weekend is zooming along, and once again I'm feeling quite torn...it will be so hard to leave here on Sunday, but I also miss Stephen at home, and Amy who is usually there on weekends. Hopefully Donovan will get the green light for an early rather than mid-December discharge.

Good news from our friends with the daughter who had heart surgery yesterday. Everything is going very well, the surgery is a success and she is already sitting up and eating! Praise God!

Mom is up and walking a few steps with assistance at home in PA hospital, but still not eating. Bribing and coaxing are proving to do little, and she still has some unexplained vomiting. Her voice is little more than a whisper, which can only be explained by her profound weakness...please continue to pray for mom. Her lungs remain clear, so we are very thankful the congestive heart failure seems under control.

Off to bed for another busy day tomorrow...good night all!

Beth