Unprecedented Progress

Hi Everyone,
You’ll be happy to hear that Natalia is now fully defying all expectations and doctors have started to express astonishment at how well and quickly she’s recovering given the severity of her circumstances up until 3.5 weeks ago when she received her double lung transplant at the absolute 11th hour.

As of Monday she has now ‘semi-graduated’ via the next stage of Step Down where she's now on the 7th floor of Toronto General Hospital vs. the 10th - no more multiple hook-ups to monitor her vitals, tracheostomy tube has been completely removed so she’s breathing on her own and able to speak consistently, all of her staples from surgery have now been removed, her drainage tubes are long gone, she is walking around the wing of the hospital an entire lap at a time, her burning desire to start eating food again should be satiated in the next day or two when the green light to eat is given and the feeding tube is removed, and recent results from chest Xrays were described by one doctor as “beautiful”...they are completely clear and her new lungs are working superbly.

All of the good being said, in the last few days Nat has been in more post-operative pain than usual, around her ribcage and along her sides in particular (for the operation doctors had to literally cut her chest open, move her ribs apart, and then join them back together afterwards with titanium) which has required additional pain medication, and the immunosuppressive drugs that she’s on (and will be on for the rest of her life) are causing her hands to shake a lot right now as doctors adjust dosages to find the right combination that works most effectively for her. She has also had quite a bit of abdominal/stomach pain. But Natalia keeps these factors in context and sees them as small inconveniences when compared to the bigger picture of how far she's come and where she's working on going...: home.

As those of you who have been following Natalia’s journey over the last month or so in particular already well know, her will to recover and be home for baby Scarlett is an undeniable and unstoppable force. You’ll be happy to hear that as her strength continues to grow, so too does her will and resolve and determination to get better even faster. Her thoughts are on Scarlett always. A small example to illustrate her mindset: when a doctor was visiting with her on Monday and exclaimed that Natalia is now recovering faster than most double lung transplant patients under the best of circumstances, her innate and natural reaction was to express surprise because she’s of the opinion that she’s just not healing fast enough. Typical Natalia fashion.

With all this talk of progress, many of you are likely beginning to wonder when Natalia will return to writing in her blog. Rest assured that it will be quite soon. There are several reasons why she hasn’t been able to just yet, first and foremost because her hands are shaking from her anti-rejection medications she has limited ability to type short messages via her BlackBerry and typing with a computer keyboard is proving particularly challenging. She’s also on heavy doses of pain medication (probably enough to knock out an elephant - Natalia is of course quite unphased but the meds do prevent clarity of thought at times). And lastly, there’s a bit more emotional healing that needs to take place for her. When she learns and thinks about what she's been through (fortunately she doesn't remember anything since her last day at St.Michael's Hospital just before being intubated and transferred to TGH) let alone what she is going to write about and where to start, it all becomes a bit overwhelming for her as I’m sure you understand and can appreciate. But she will be reaching out soon. A particularly meaningful and symbolic further step forward that will be indeed.

So. Lots of positives! And unprecedented progress. Feedback from doctors in the last few days about how far Natalia has truly come from how far gone she really was has further confirmed to us that not only has Natalia defied all the odds that had quickly stacked against her, she has pretty much transcended them. All of them. Every single one. She continues to amaze...and will be home with Martin and Scarlett and family soon.

Myles
ps: the photo below is Casa du Ritchie - with Christmas and Welcome-Home-Natalia Tree - Martin has it primed and raring to go...

The LEAP to Speech + Online Resources

Hi Everyone,
She speaks!
With her new tracheostomy tube, you'll be happy to hear that Natalia can speak again!

In her typical style, Natalia has leapt right over the hurdle of potentially needing a speech pathologist after a month of not being able to say a single word and weeks of tubes pushing past her vocal chords. It's a bit whispy at the moment, but Natalia's voice is back.

So she's now walking (in longer and longer stints, with a bit of assistance, down the hallways of the Step Down Unit) and talking.

Small steps are turning into longer strides.

Given where she was just 3 weeks ago - deteriorating quickly and getting far too close to death's door - thanks to hope and determination and science and medical skill and the incredible generosity of someone who gave the gift of life and his/her incredible family that helped make it happen, Nat is walking and talking and smiling and getting closer and closer to continuing her recovery at home where she can return to being a Mom and Wife and Daughter and Sister and Aunt and Friend on a bigger scale and more consistent basis than ever; moving forward with her new lease on life and getting busier as she gets stronger to catch up on lost time and experiences (I think it's starting to make Martin a little nervous - early morning runs, visits to markets, long walks, trips....he's going to be quite busy)

As I'm sure you'll agree, it's all really quite incredible. Miraculous even.

The power of determination, patience, will, spirit, love, family, support, generosity, medicine, technology....and serendipitous timing.

Your unfaltering support of Natalia and her family's journey has, is and will always be something that they appreciate and thank you for on a scale that can't be expressed.

Nat's original hope and goal of sharing her personal story to help people understand the trials and tribulations of a terminal disease....to leave a journal and lessons for her daughter Scarlett....and to help humanize a national issue by helping to put a face and personal story to the importance of organ donation with the hope of helping bring some greater good for other Canadians that are currently on a transplant waiting list (approx 4000) and to help future Canadians in need of an organ transplant has been working: there is strong evidence from many of you that a difference is indeed being made.

Victories on two fronts.

For those that may not have had an opportunity yet, please consider your choice and wishes about organ donation, discuss them with your family, and see below for more information.

For Natalia, a final bronchoscopy was conducted yesterday and all was clear, the trach should be completely out in a couple of days allowing her to breathe entirely on her own all the time, to start eating food again, and to continue the count down to getting home with her family which doctors currently estimate to be approx 2 weeks.

We'll keep you posted as the victories and remarkable journey continues...

All the best,
Myles Slocombe

ORGAN DONATION:
By making your wishes known, you have the opportunity to save up to 8 people’s lives and enhance the lives of up to 75 more should, God forbid, something happen to you. In many cases, when families lose a loved one, the gift of life their loved ones were able to provide is the one tangible silver lining that brings a degree of comfort at a time of loss. Don’t just discuss it with loved ones: sign your donor cards and add your name to applicable provincial registries in the provinces that have them. Even more powerful is to state your wishes in a living will. All of the above will let your next-of-kin know your intentions, having your name in a registry can save important time, and a living will with a health care directive carries the most amount of weight.

For more information and to register your wishes now:

->Alberta, Nunavut, Northwest Territories:
No registries at this time – sign the back of your health card
->British Columbia:
http://www.transplant.bc.ca/index.asp
->Manitoba:
http://www.gov.mb.ca/health/donor.html
->New Brunswick:
http://www.snb.ca/e/0001e.asp
->Nova Scotia:
http://www.legacyoflife.ns.ca/
->Newfoundland & Labrador:
Donor Card/Driver’s Licence
->Ontario:
http://www.giftoflife.on.ca/page.cfm?id=3F79E442-F7FD-4057-AA63-7B0279A17EF1
->Prince Edward Island:
Place sticker on your health card renewal form onto your health card and/or have red heart engraved into your driver’s license at time of renewal
->Quebec:
Obtain donation sticker from local hospitals and pharmacies and attach it to your health card
->Saskatchewan:
http://www.health.gov.sk.ca/organ-and-tissue-donor-information
->Yukon: Donor Card

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
http://www.organ-donation-works.org
http://www.recycleme.org (Ontario only, but a very effective & informative website)

Thank you.

Onward & Upward

Hi Everyone,
This afternoon, we're very happy to report, Natalia walked : )

We're not talking 1 or 2 steps here. We're talking full-on-no-holds-barred-taking-physio-up-a-notch walking all the way to the end of the hallway.

Just around the corner, with new tracheostomy tube installed, will be the ability to speak again.

And something Natalia's expressed particular excitement about: very soon the ability to be done with the feeding tube and start being able to eat solid food again (I don't think she'll be able to keep up with baby Scarlett, but that's a whole other story...)

Will keep you posted as more gains are made...
All the best,
Myles