Officially Listed

(Originally posted on 4/21/14 on cotaforjensh.com)

Earlier today, Jens was officially listed as "active" on the list for a double lung transplant. We knew this was coming and this is the reason for our move to Pittsburgh, but everything was kind of a blur today.

Let me back up a few days to give you a recap...

Jens & Brett on the U-Haul. Our apartment is to the left of Jens's shoulder- 2nd floor, corner.

We left Nashville on Tuesday and drove to Columbus to stay with our friends Josh and Michelle for the night. On Wednesday, Abby & our friend, Brett, got up early to get to Pittsburgh to begin unloading the truck. Brett offered the gift of driving the U-Haul and helping us unload it. After signing the lease and getting the keys, it took about an hour to get the truck empty! We had wonderful help from Josh's cousin, Brendan, and Uncle Marty. The guys set up beds, assembled tables, and moved furniture! Abby emptied every box by the day's end (and took the next few days to organize everything). We treated ourselves to some delicious burgers and milkshakes at Burgatory that night for a great day's work!

sunrise from our patio/balcony on 4/19/14)

On Thursday evening, Jens started feeling some pain in his shoulder. At first, he thought he slept on it funny. However, the pain persisted. By Saturday evening, he was feeling more shortness of breath, and we decided it was best to check out UPMC's ER department to rule out a pneumothorax (collapsed lung). 

After some tests in the ER, it was determined that he has pneumonia in his right lung. Since he was already on IV meds, coupled with the fact that he is "new" to the pulmonary team in Pittsburgh, they decided to let him stay on his current routine and to check in on Monday (with the understanding, of course, that we would come back to the ER if anything worsened). 

Abby cooked an Easter brunch and spent some time outside on a beautiful Easter afternoon. We attended an evening church service, due to our late night in the ER, at the gorgeous St. Paul's Cathedral. 

Empty boxes & Easter brunch- Thanks for the flowers, Jens! 

We began the calls Monday morning to his new CF coordinator at UPMC, as well as to the transplant coordinator. By afternoon's end, we have a plan in place to get IV meds, an appointment on Wednesday in the CF clinic, and he is officially listed as "active" on the transplant list. Whew! What an afternoon! 

If we are being completely honest, we're not ready for this. We're still working on getting settled in our new place. We've met 2 people in Pittsburgh, outside of the leasing office of our apartment building, and we think we know a few good routes to the hospital. We're learning how to navigate a new city and new grocery stores. We're dealing with a different hospital and their system of how they will change his port, deliver his IV meds, and see him in the clinic. There is so much newness to our lives right now, and it's all happened so fast. We know this is why we're here, but that doesn't mean that we're ready for this. 

So begins, officially, our journey of always having our phones charged, always picking up calls from 412 numbers, always being "ready" to go. 

See pictures from the move to Pittsburgh at: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1583287755228941.1073741832.1521562651401452&type=3