"The Call": a look back at May 17, 2014

(Originally published on 11/18/14 on cotaforjensh.com)

After we moved to Pittsburgh on April 16, 2014, we enjoyed a slower pace of life while waiting for the call. We were lucky, as his health actually improved in the month we were waiting. We attribute much of this to the removal of some of our stressors. I (Abby) was no longer teaching, which alleviates stress on it’s own. The two weeks prior to moving, I was working 18-hour days trying to finish what I needed to with my class, grading over 20 assignments so that half of their grades came from me rather than a sub, writing 7 weeks of lesson plans… all while packing, trying to savor the last few days in a city we’d lived in for 10 years, and saying goodbye to the community of supporters in Nashville. Oh yeah, Jens still had his normal health issues and was recovering from a brief hospital stay at the end of March. 

Once we got to Pittsburgh, we were able to slow down. I suddenly had time to read for fun! Some of the biggest challenges were navigating the roads and the new grocery store. We had to switch medical equipment and home care to local offices in Pittsburgh. Of course, we were always tense when we got calls from unknown 412 numbers; we never knew if it was “the call.” Jens started pulmonary rehab at UPMC, where he completed about 3 weeks of work before getting the call. He was feeling much better, and was even able to come off of IV meds for about 2 weeks; he had basically been on them consistently since Thanksgiving. All in all, Jens was in the best possible shape going into the transplant. 

Jens working out at pulmonary rehab on 5/15/14. 

The night before “the call,” I remember finishing my library book. I had a fleeting thought of, “Oh great. He’ll probably get the call tonight before I have a chance to make it back to the library.” I didn’t take the thought too seriously, and fell asleep as if everything were normal. ----- Jens got "the call" on Saturday, May 17 at 6:21 AM. We don't get many calls at odd hours, so I suspected this was it when I heard his phone ring. He pointed to the phone and said "Lungs!" as he listened. He was told that he was the “back up” to two cases. UPMC frequently calls “back ups,” as that allows them to determine the recipient after further testing of the organs. 

He was told to do his breathing treatments and shower with Hibiclens (preoperative) soap. Jens was NPO, and not allowed to eat anything or have anything to drink. Jens was definitely stressed and frazzled as he went about his to do list to prepare to head to the hospital. It was a weird feeling for me, not knowing how to best support him. After he hung up from the call, he kind of paced back and forth into the room, as if he was looking for something, yet couldn’t remember what. He was so focused on what he had to do prepare that he forgot all about me. I recall blocking his path, as in that moment, I just wanted to give him a hug and reassure him everything would be okay. 

We arrived at UPMC Presbyterian around 8:30 AM. (We were told to not rush to the hospital after they called. They wanted Jens to completed the necessary things before coming in.) We were told to go through the ER, since it was a weekend. Jens had the necessary vitals taken, and he was ushered back into one of the ER rooms. We remember this being an odd “holding place,” as the ER nurses and staff weren’t exactly sure what was going on either. At one point, we asked them to contact the Transplant Office to make sure that they knew we were there and ready. We definitely didn’t want to be passed up because they didn’t know where we were. (Which was a silly thought, because they obviously knew where we were. In this moment, you mind starts going all sorts of places.)

Hanging out in the ER... waiting on 5/17/14 

Thankfully, they were in more communication about everything than we were aware of. We were first told that they were going in around 11 or 11:30 AM to get the lungs out of the donor’s body. That would mean that they would determine which recipient would get the lungs. The plans changed, and around that time, they moved us to a room on the 8th floor of the hospital. 

At that point, we waited some more, without any news about what happened to the 11 AM plan. We were only in contact with the nurses and aides in the ER and on the 8th floor at that point; no doctors, nurses, or social workers involved with transplant had seen us yet. 

Since we were the back-up, we had made contact with our families. However, we asked them to wait on coming until we knew more. His mom would be flying from Philly, and his brother was going to drive over from Ohio. Abby’s family knew early in the morning, as well. We consciously made the decision to wait to announce anything to anyone else or through the Lungs4Jens social media until we had more information. We were very aware that we could get sent home, and we were not sure we wanted to get everyone’s hopes up and then have to share disappointment right away. 

Jens signing consent for the transplant surgery 

Around 2:30 PM, one of the transplant surgeon fellows, Dr. Luigi (that’s really his first name), came into the room to speak with us. He had consent forms for Jens to sign, and informed us that they would be going in for the lungs soon (possibly around 4:30 PM), and that Jens would go back for surgery around 6:00 PM. We asked him about the back-up scenario. He explained that Jens really wasn’t the back up. They had a situation where they had two donors. One person would be receiving the heart and lungs from one of the donors. The other donor would be giving the heart to someone, and Jens would be getting the lungs. He was never the back up, rather, they were just doing further testing to determine which organs would go to each of the recipients. 

At that point, when Dr. Luigi left the room, it hit us hard. We had stayed fairly distracted to that point, watching our favorite TV shows On Demand on the iPad, playing games on the iPad, and watching TV. However, now we had some concrete, scary news to share. Jens called his brother, who was going to leave his home within the following hour. We knew he probably would not make it to Pittsburgh before Jens went back. Overhearing this very emotional conversation brought tears to my eyes. Jens called his mom, and she was going to arrive around 11 PM that evening, while Jens was in surgery. 

(fb screenshot)

Word spread quickly... 

We announced the news on Facebook, and the word spread quickly. (Looking back, this was an excellent, stress-free way to share our news without everyone contacting me directly to tell the story hundreds of times.) We had an outpouring of support from the comments, likes, shares, texts, and calls. We read through most of them, but we decided that Abby would respond to them once Jens went back to surgery. We wanted to spend the time together. 

Around 5:30 PM, Jens was taken to a pre-op area. At this point, he was in a hospital gown and looked “ready” for surgery. We waited in this area for about an hour. They offered Jens a TV to help pass the time, and of course, he wanted to watch baseball. He did a breathing treatment. We wrongfully assumed this would be his last ever breathing treatment, as we thought he would not have to continue these after the transplant. We were wrong on that, but at the time, it was a hopeful, positive thought- one that helped us to realize that we were making a change for the better. 

Jens went back into surgery/pre-op around 6:30 PM. Jens wrote this to you before he went back: 

Thank you to all of my supporters and for everyone that has been keeping up with my journey. Thank you for calling/texting/reaching out/praying. I can't tell you how much it helps to know that people are behind me. I'll be heading into surgery soon and I'm so thankful to have an incredible woman in Abby next to me. See all you crazy kids on the other side!

Doing our special handshake before he went back to the OR 

Next in the series: The Surgery and The Waiting Room