rosh hashanah

Last night, James and I celebrated Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) with my family. It was a small crowd around the table. The absence of loved ones lost in the last year was strongly felt by all of us. We shared stories and watched videos, but there is still a lot of pain and grief. I held James close, and I asked for a lot of photos to be taken. I have always hidden behind the camera, but these days, I want to document every moment I have together with Jame in shared love and happiness.

He is looking good for someone in lung failure.

We also went to the transplant gym in the morning. James worked really hard, and then, fell asleep in complete exhaustion for most of the afternoon. I'm so proud of him. That never seems to change. He is working at about the same level as he was pre-transplant, but with a significant difference: He is not on oxygen. We looked around the room. There were a lot of people in dire need for lungs. We shared similar thoughts: James is not sick enough for transplant (despite his decline in lung function to 25%). This should come with some reassurance, but it is devastating to imagine that James may have to deteriorate a lot further before being considered a candidate for another double-lung transplant. 

We are feeling very lost. It is not safe to return to Victoria, but James is not ready for transplant. His body is compensating for the decline. We are playing a waiting game. We have no certainties for the coming days, weeks, or months. We can no longer conceptualize a form of stability for James' health. (Can stability exist at 25% lung function?). We really have no choice. We have to take it one day at a time.