Off breathing tube with hilarious stories to tell
As I wrote yesterday, we had a Zoom call scheduled with Pop today—Susie, Molly and I were excited to get to see him on camera again but were keeping our expectations low since he just came off ECMO and fully woke up yesterday. We were expecting him to still have the breathing tube in and be able to interact very little. Susie called right as the Zoom was about to start and told me, “Great news—we are postponing the call a bit because he’s getting his breathing tube out right now! But still, he might not be able to talk very much.” We were all just hoping to get to see him smile and to tell him that we loved him.
When we got on the call, Dad was awake, propped up in bed, and had plenty of amazing updates for us. I truly wish I could have transcribed the whole conversation, but here are some highlights:
“I’ve been having amazing hallucinations. I woke up at 7am this morning and have basically been tripping all day. Way crazier than any drug I’ve ever taken. Not a lot of people. A lot of colors. Like a kaleidoscope. A lot of shapes. A lot of food shapes. A lot of Gouda cheese.”
“As I was starting to wake up, I was convinced my room was like a basement construction site. I saw plastic around my bed and it was all dark and I was convinced I was in an auxiliary unit of the hospital that had just been constructed. As soon as I got my breathing tube out, I was planning to dictate a letter to Emma for the CEO of the hospital telling him that my room was unacceptable. When I finally woke up, the nurses confirmed that I have the nicest room in the ICU.”
“Oh! Who did the Saints pick?” (Deep hat tip to both Molly and Susie who had prepared a full update on the status of the draft, anticipating this moment.) “Mmm, not sure about Winston.”
“How is Juliana and how is Mo? Tell Juliana the next time she sees her Poppy, she can have all the oysters she wants. There will be no end.”
“Please tell everyone I am doing ok.”
The call was pure joy—Susie, Molly and I could not stop smiling and laughing the whole time.
Pop also shared that he wasn’t in too much pain, but that the new lungs do hurt a bit when he breathes and breathing takes some effort. The nurses used the analogy with him that the lungs are like new leather shoes—you get them more or less in your size but then you have to break them in to fit your body specifically. But the lungs continue to work!
The ICU team also assured us separately that Dad is doing really well and very much on track. Next steps are:
Confirm that all labs remain stable now that he is awake and off the breathing tube
Be able to walk down the hall
Pass a swallow test before he can eat or drink anything on his own (which Pop is already eager to do ;)
Only the first 2 steps above need to be completed before he can leave ICU, so transfer to the Stepdown Unit will likely come in the next week if everything continues in a positive direction.
One final note: Dad’s immune system remains very suppressed so that he does not reject the new lungs. As a result, the hospital is not accepting any deliveries for patients especially with coronavirus on the loose. If you would like to send a card to his house in Durham where Susie is staying, she will make sure he gets it when he is released!
Peter Roy • 1006 9th St • Durham, NC 27705
Pop also said during the call that he knew the last few days must have been very hard for us and there may have been moments where we thought he wouldn’t make it. He said he always knew that he could pull through if he could just get the breathing tube out! We assured him that we were all doing fine and believed in him, and that so many people had reached out with words of encouragement and support. Thank you to everyone who is reading this for being part of the team to rally him back to consciousness, back to increasing strength, and back to more days of laugher and gouda cheese and oysters with no end.