Are You Sure You’re Supposed to Be Here?

You wouldn’t believe the looks John has gotten since we arrived at the hospital.

After we checked in, we waited for someone to come and get him to take him to his room. The waiting room was packed with people, but they were holding the room for us as we made our way to Durham. After about five minutes a lady with a wheelchair rounds the corner and passes right by John. We were standing up because there was nowhere to sit. She looked at him, but just kept going. I heard her ask for Mr. Rodgers, and the lady at the desk pointed to John. John took a seat in the wheelchair, and the lady said, “You look so young.” That was o.k. because I hear how young John looks all the time. But I didn’t expect her to say the next thing. She says, “Is he your son?” MY SON!!! Really? Well, I just tell myself that I’m glad I have a young, healthy looking husband.

So later when we were settled in the room, someone came in to get John to take him for a pulmonary test. The man came in and said, “Are you ready to go?” John was laying on the bed in his hospital gown and jumped right up out of the bed and said, “Yep.” The man just chuckled and said, “You’re ready to walk, aren’t you? You’re not walking. I’m rolling you down there.” John just said, “Oh, o.k. and laid back down.” I just laughed and said, “That’s my Boby.” He’s never going to accept that he’s so sick. He’s always ready to go.

Throughout the past two days John’s had several different nurses – day nurses and night nurses. Every time a new nurse comes on and meets John for the first time we hear, “You look too good to be here. Are you sure you’re supposed to be here?”

Well, John is remarkable! He may not look sick or act sick most of the time, but that’s just because he’s a fighter. And the doctors have seen that the past few days. Based on the tests they’ve run they have determined that John is “very, very sick.” We have heard over and over again that, “He’s in the right place” and “We can’t believe he’s done as well as he has” and “He has a huge heart”.

An average heart size is 6 centimeters. John’s heart is 10 centimeters. His heart only pumps at a 6% ejection fraction. A healthy heart pumps at about a 60% ejection fraction.

Today we thought they might let John go home over the weekend and come back on Monday to do the rest of the evaluation outpatient. John was determined to show them how good he’s doing so that he could go home. He got a sleeping pill last night, so when he woke up he felt much, much better. He got up, got dressed in real clothes, took two laps around the floor, and insisted on standing up when the doctors came in. He didn’t fool them, but they were impressed with his stubbornness, drive to be “normal”, and just overall vigor.

All of this is a wonderful gift from God in the midst of all the madness, and it gives us tremendous confidence that John is going to beat this with his new heart! He is a fighter, and even though he’s supposed to be here now, it won’t be for long!