Heather Von St. James

Day 3 in ICU- sitting in a chair!

The entire 11th floor of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston is dedicated to thoracic patients. They have lung transplant patients, collapsed lung patients, esophageal cancer patients and, of course, extrapleural pneumonectomy or EPP patients like myself. The nurses and residents are highly skilled and know exactly what to do to care for us.

The first few days after surgery are a blur; I was in the ICU for 3 days. During that time, I had to pass certain milestones before I could move to the step down ward. The first thing I had to accomplish was “dangle” that was sitting on the side of the bed with my feet “dangling” No easy task when there are about 14 tubes connected to you. After I accomplished dangling, I got to graduate to sitting in a chair-- woohoo! This was a huge step and meant I actually got up out of bed. After sitting for a couple of hours, I would need to sleep. It must be what a newborn feels like. Simple tasks would exhaust me.

Tags: Brigham and Women's Hospital, Mesothelioma, Mesothelioma Treatments

My surgery was scheduled for Thursday, February 2nd, 2006, at 7:30 a.m. Cameron and I arrived in Boston on the 31st of January to get settled in and get all the pre-op testing done. All of that was scheduled on Feb 1st. It was a whirlwind day.

Appointment with Dr. Sugarbaker first, then blood work and more tests at the diagnostic center, the EKG Lab, CT scan, x-rays and another appointment with Dr. Sugarbaker at the end of the day.

Tags: brigham and women's hospital, lungleavin' day, mesothelioma

Our baby's first Christmas, 2005- It was supposed to be memorable, and it was, but for all the wrong reasons. We did everything we usually do; Christmas Eve with my husbands family, but despite the festive air of the season, no one could ignore the dark cloud hanging over us. To this day, when I decorate my Christmas tree and I put the "Baby's First Christmas" ornament on the tree, I do so with a bittersweet feeling.

Who Would Care for My Baby Girl?

We had just a month to prepare for the upcoming surgery, and iron out details... just a few small ones, like where were we going to stay in Boston while all this was going on? And who would take care of Lily? I was to be in Boston for at least a month, and bringing her with us was not an option. We could not care for both her and me at the same time. My husband's family offered to watch her and take turns, but that didn't set well with me.

Tags: brigham and women's hospital, international mesothelioma program, lungleavin day, mesothelioma