TIME TO PULL THE RABBIT OUT OF THE HAT AND GET ON WITH THE RECOVERY PLAN  (Thanks to Joe's sister Donna for the rabbit)!!!

Today is New Lungs Day 23.  Last week, Vikki traded the big breathing tube for a tracheostomy. She still needs the respirator to help her breathe, but now we can all see her beautiful smiling face. She's not able to talk yet, but maybe soon.

Most of the news coming from the medical teams is good. The transplant surgeons are done with her and passed her care over to the pulmonary team. She moved from the surgical ICU to the medical ICU around the corner. We have a whole new group of nurses and aides to get to know. But its part of the normal progression for transplant recovery.

So what's going on now---something they call pressure support trials where they turn the respirator down to its lowest settings and let Vikki breathe totally on her own (the machine kicks in if she needs a bit of help). They increase the trial time as she does better and better. She is now up to 12 hours a day on her own. They keep the machine on overnight while she sleeps, and then she does another trial the next day.

And she is also seeing PT/OT/Rehab twice a day to start to work on rebuilding her muscles. For now, she is doing exercises in bed or in a chair. They have this really cool sling to help her move into a chair...sitting up is good for rehab. The next challenge will be standing...and then walking again. But she has a long way to go to get that strong.

The doctors are still working on a few issues...a new infection that has to be treated, probably from the breathing tube....and a periodic period of apnea where Vikki just does not breathe at all. This is a bit concerning, as it could indicate some neuro problem. Or maybe she's just tired and still needs to figure out how to make these new lungs work for her.

Stay tuned. The next milestone is putting a voice device in the trach so Vikki can talk....then getting her strong enough to stand...and hopefully moving out of the ICU...maybe in a couple of weeks.

Let's all hope there's nothing but good news from this point on.