Update

(Originally published on 2/26/14 on cotaforjensh.com)

Jens is still at VUMC. He has continued to have some streaks of blood in his normal sputum, so they want to continue to monitor that. The doctors want to hold off on a discharge from the hospital until he can safely do more of his airway clearance routines. Right now, he is only doing Albuterol with some chest percussion. They would like to see him back on Pulmozyme and doing more chest percussion for his airway clearance routine, but they have been slow to reintroduce things since they did not want to aggravate whatever infection was causing the bleeding.

The transplant evaluation in Pittsburgh has been scheduled to begin on March 17 and will last a few days that week. More to come about that, but we at least have that scheduled!

In the meantime, emotions are everywhere, bodies are tired, and some days are just plain tough. We are having to really fight for joy each and every day. Just last week, Jens and I struggled with separating transplant preparation stuff (COTA, fundraising, appointments, moving, etc.) from our normal lives of grocery shopping and honestly, just enjoying time together. If we were having to fight for joy last week, this week has been an all-out battle. We are having to be really intentional with our time, so that there are times when we have to deal with the "business" of all of this and times when we can just have fun and enjoy each other's presence.

We cherish every prayer and outpouring of support. We are so grateful, and it lifts our spirits to know we have this incredible team supporting us every step of the way. Please forgive us in the times where we haven't done a great job of communicating with you. We are so touched that you care and want to be involved.

With gratitude,
Abby (and Jens)