Walking back to health

After losing so much leg strength during his stay in hospital, we were certain that Pop’s rehab would include countless sets of squats and lunges. But it turns out the best way to build strength back in both your lungs and your legs is just to keep walking:

So that’s what Pop is up to these days—walks and more walking and sometimes biking. He is walking both at the rehab center and outside when he can, and has weaned himself back off supplemental oxygen! His average distance is at nearly a mile, which is about where he was before this last round in the hospital. While all of us are learning not to expect strictly linear progress on this journey, by way of comparison, another Duke patient who got a transplant the day after Dad was only just recently released from the ICU. So even with the ups and downs that may come during a week, the fact that Pop was on the trail yesterday breathing on his own remains an incredible blessing.

In addition to ongoing medication adjustments, the focus of the medical team this past week was to keep Pop’s weight from dropping any further. Weight loss was another side effect of both strong medications and terrible hospital food. As Pop shared today, “Between getting a lung transplant and COVID quarantine, I haven’t weighed this little or had my hair this long since I was 20 years old!” But the directive from his doctors to eat more full-fat foods is one that plays pretty directly to Pop’s strengths. In addition to walking, he is at the stove everyday cooking up delicious meals and is also a new fan of Dolcezza’s Roasted Strawberry Ice Cream.

In the coming week, Pop has appointments at Duke Medical clinic to complete several tests that were first done prior to surgery. This will help his doctors establish some new baselines and provide further direction on medication dosage. Here’s hoping Sam & Dave get all AAAAAAs!