Lifesavers for Latasha

Today marks the three-week point in this transplant story. It marks a transitional moment where the medical conversations have shifted toward postoperative care and discharge.

It’s a lot to take in. Just 21 days ago, I was having a minor panic attack, and Latasha and I were driving to Cleveland Clinic, asking ourselves if this was happening. Now that it has happened, it feels like a blur. Each day presented its fog of war and felt like a dream or nightmare, depending on the day.

I am thankful for writing each day about the experience because otherwise, I am not sure I could unpack the emotions and wade through the messiness to recall everything. The reflections have helped me share the experience with friends and loved ones, but most importantly, what I care most about is helping Tasha understand it all and see the journey from a 360-degree point of view. I think there will be an emotional therapeutic healing that takes solace through reading it all.

Anyhow, to the update.

As I mentioned earlier, today began a series of many revolving visits from doctors, therapists of all kinds, nutritionists, pharmacists, counselors, social workers, educators, and many more to prepare us for life after spending four weeks in the hospital.

Tasha grows stronger each day. Today, she could feed herself her entire meal and use her phone. These are all significant steps toward gaining back vital hand-eye coordination.

The physical therapist walked with us and cleared her to venture out with me at her side whenever she wanted. We have walked four times around the unit, which is probably about 600 feet in total.

We talked about medications and what they do and had a life after-transplant pre-education class to prepare for two follow-up education sessions. All aim not to have organ rejection, injections, or complications.

All in all, it was a great day, and tomorrow will be an even better day.