Greetings!

Well, it has been 3 months since my lung surgery! This may be hard to imagine, over half of my lung tissue is that of a 3 month old baby. While I don't think the Thoracic Surgeon at UCHealth smacked me on the butt, the process is still the same, building my new lung tissue to convert air into oxygenated blood.

My buddy from UCHealth Pulmonary Rehab, Alexandra Worl, managed to get me out of bed and start exercising a month ago, via tele-health, thank God! I had been cleared for Pulmonary Rehab back in March, before I had the last 2 chest tubes removed, and then everything shut down because of the virus.

I have now started Pulmonary Rehab and it is amazing how much muscle tone and stamina a person can lose in three month, two of which I spent pretty much on my back. Sister Mary Colleen has zero sympathy as she snaps her whip like a Circus Ring Master! I hesitate to think where I would be now, if she hadn't prepared me with 60 Pulmonary Rehab sessions before the surgery. For that I am eternally grateful to both her and Delta County Memorial Hospital. Today was my third session and I successfully completed an hour of strenuous exercise on one liter less of oxygen than I did on Tuesday!

I went to Denver last week for apost-op follow up with my Pulmonologist at National Jewish Health. As of last week, National Jewish was unable to find a lab that could specifically identify what was in my lung tissue. It isn't like they are not trying, I have a fairly unique situation commonly addressed by Veterinarians. Those of you that have referred to me as being a member of the animal kingdom or a part of an animal posterior anatomy, will appreciate that!

All in all, I feel extremely blessed,as if a miracle has transpired in my life. The people I have met throughout this journey have been nothing short of amazing in helping me to get to this point. For that, I am eternally grateful. I have attached picture of my hero Colleen Anastasi, (aka Sister Mary Colleen), Manager of Cardiac and Pulmonology Rehab, and myself both before surgery and socially distanced today on the third birthday of my lungs!

This pretty much concludes Deb and my journey with Caring Bridge. Over 3,100 people have visited our story, offered loving hearts and words of encouragement. For that we are eternally grateful!

Love,

Richard & Deb