So much has happened in the last 9 months since I last posted on this blog.
David had his transplant on August 22nd. It was a very exciting day but anti-clamatic at the same time. The first bag was done in like 25 minutes. Then we had to wait for 4 hours before he could have the second bag. David slept through the second bag. From there is was a wait and see kind of time. David started getting headaches which was partly due to the anti-rejection meds. But from there he sort of diminished. He had all sorts of complications and was in and out of ICU and on and off of the ventilator. Finally after being at MD Anderson for 89 days, he was released to live in the apartment for the rest of his 100 days. Time flew and before we knew it, it was Nov. 30th...the 100th day. It was the day we had planned and had been waiting for. I had the biggest surprise ever for David. I bought him his dream car..I bought him a fully loaded 2013 Jeep Wrangler. I had it sitting in the driveway with balloons and we had the neighborhood lined with signs...it was an AMAZING day! We were so excited to have him home finally.
Now that he was home, the kids had to readjust to having their dad home full time. David started getting stronger, but still did not have an appetite. He was so fragile. We had to be so careful. He started driving himself to MD Anderson and he so enjoyed driving his jeep. We had an amazing Christmas. It was so good to be together the 5 of us.
In January David slowly began to return to work. He attended the wrestling tournament and was so excited to see his students and be back doing the things he loved. On January 8th he returned to work to see his co-workers and begin the second semester. On the 9th he met his students and made it through the day. That night he talked about how great his classes were and how excited he was to be back at school and he was looking forward to this semester.
That night he said he was so tired. He said he just wanted to lay in bed next to me, his favorite place to be. The next morning I found David without a heartbeat. I called 911, Andrew picked David up out of bed and put him on the floor so I could perform CPR. Andrew and I were there when EMS came in. The little ones slept through all of it. I quickly got dressed to go in the ambulance, but they would not allow me to go with David. I should have known then, what that meant. Later I realized when the ambulance left the neighborhood that it left without the lights or sirens on.
When I got to the hospital, the tried to talk and talk...I just said "tell me" and they did...he never made it to the hospital. As I sat there crying and hugging my husband, my dear friend appeared at the doorway for me. My friend Kelly was the first to arrive to comfort me, then my friend Jen and then Kyla. These three women dropped everything to come and support me in my darkest hour.
Now, to tell the kids........
