09-12-09 justabout mid night pacific time.

 Emily is still at UWMC. As always seems to be the case the ride has is ups and downs. Recovery from surgery is progressing nicely. With the chest tube out and the incision on the mend.  The significant step that was taken early this morning was first the stopping of meds by epidural and then removing the epidural from Emily's back. This is always a pretty big step, after the transplant it was a rough transition but today has been good. The post surgical pain is at a reasonable level. It will be a while before Emily knows if the repaired herniation has relieved some of that pain. So, that part is good. Not as good is that for the past couple of days Em has been having some real difficulty breathing. This is a surprise, since having her transplant that has not been an issue. She has been having to do inhalation and percussive therapies. Walking has also been a challenge because of breathlessness. The hope is that this is just post surgery gunkiness which can bother anyone. Tomorrow will bring some more evaluation and on monday a probable broncoscophy to check for infection or rejection.  Having neither would be good. Discharge from here could be as early as Sun or who knows. Some other tubes have been DCed and tonight was the first post surgical shower, that  was was, I think a blissful moment as at the hospital you can have all the hot water that you desire. We also had a fun moment today when Emily Skyped with a bunch of family members back in Detroit where they are celebrating my Aunt Doris' 90th birthday. From hospital room to the motor city, who would have thunk it.  Night all, bed time on the west coast, gotta get some shut eye before the morning xray.