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| Saying goodbye to 7 |
February 20, 2013.
After nearly 3 months as an inpatient, either at WestPark Healthcare Centre or at Toronto General Hospital, and 12 days on a ventilator prior to receiving his gift of life, Keith was finally allowed to go home! It was so nice to be able to walk out of hospital, and into his home with NO walker! Our first night home, Keith really wanted to have Il Fornello pizza, so we went out and had a lovely meal with my daughters, Emma and Kathleen.
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| In home pharmacy! |
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| CBC interview on Saturday morning. |
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Relaxed breakfast
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On Saturday morning, the CBC came to do an interview and finally get a chance to chat with Keith outside of the hospital. Keith did an excellent job. See the interview here (15 minutes in).
Our new reality, for a few months, is 3-4 regular trips in to Toronto a week for physical rehab, doctors visits, testing and follow up appointments. Keith is monitored very closely by his doctors, and does self monitoring every day through spirometry readings, temperature readings, and everything is charted. If there are any noticeable (10%) up or downticks in anything, he is to go to the hospital immediately. The medications that he takes to suppress his immune system, need to be taken at the same time each day, twice a day, for the rest of his life.
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| First workout day after transplant |
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| Treadmill. 1.8 as opposed to .6. He rocked it. |
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Keith and Dr. Waddell? Need to organize
a proper meeting :) |
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| Running into Derek from Spiritual Care |
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Catching up with the team at Credit Valley
Physio Rehab |
It has been so wonderful to meet up with many of our friends, and people who have helped over the months and years.
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| Yep, another front page from our local paper. |
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Vince - the Physio master in MSICU.
This man is awesome!!! |
No post would ever be complete, without thanking the one incredible person who made this all possible. You made a choice, your family supported that choice, and not one moment, not one breath goes by that is not filled with gratitude for your most precious gift. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts. I can only hope that your family can find solace in knowing that Keith will take amazing care of this gift.
If you would like more information on how to ensure that you are registered in Ontario as an organ donor, please go to beadonor.ca. Or visit Keith's Facebook Page and check out the about section for more links in other provinces and countries.
My mother died on Dec 29, 2013 waiting for a transplant at the age of 68. I and her grandchildren miss her every single moment. I am soooooo very happy that Keith has been given this amazing miracle. Bless him and your family and pray that he lives a long and healthy life.
ReplyDeleteCheri
Cheri,
DeleteThank you so much for posting this. Please accept Keith and my heartfelt condolences on the loss of your mother. It is this very sad reality that strengthens my resolve to continue what I have started, and not rest until the organ donation numbers are where they need to be in order to reduce wait times, and save more lives.
Please feel free to contact me any time, if you would like to keep in contact. One person at a time, we can all make that difference.
Blessings, Sarah
Sarah,
ReplyDeleteI am over the moon to see how well Keith looks, so much stronger and happy....happy happy!!
We have all of those pills as well and seeing that box of skunky smelly Neoral makes me chuckle!! You guys will get in a routine and your pills will be so organized in your little containers, it will become second nature! My hubby has a big tub filled with his pills and then every couple of weeks he lays out the day containers and just does an assembly line to fill them and he is good to go.
So so happy for you guys, here's to a long, happy and healthy life for the both of you!!
Peace, Love and Hugs,
Nerina