Lifesavers for Latasha

Latasha has been recovering from her fourth surgery over the past two days. She is doing much better, but it was another challenging surgery that added a few more weeks to her hospital phase of the transplant journey.

As you know, Tasha had a severe bleeding issue in her right lung that resulted in losing 40% of her blood volume in her right chest cavity. The bleeding caused her lung to collapse, aka a Pneumothorax. The thoracic team did a video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) to address this. The VATS is through the side chest wall and left her with a few more scars and a significant amount of pain because of the location. She also wound up with three more chest tubes to ensure any residual bleeding was pulled off her.

I want to sit here and say all is well, but we have a long way to go. The medical teams are still figuring out the best steps for her kidney injury that won’t impact other issues, primarily blood clots. Tasha is exhausted and frustrated, as one would be after being in the hospital for almost 30 days. And if you’ve ever been in the ICU, it is not a restful place, nor does anyone get any sleep.

As usual, the nurses and doctors have been amazing. We’re hoping to get to the step-down unit by the end of the week so we can be discharged by the end of next week.

As I’ve said before, buckle up because just when you think the rollercoaster is about to stop for exiting, it takes another lap. Keep those hands and feet inside at all times, and remember to enjoy the ride but don’t get comfortable.

Until next time.