So hard to say goodbye (NOT!!!!)

Saw the old lungs today and it was an unemotional event of my behalf. I saw how bad the old lungs were and am even more grateful for the gift, the second chance I have.


Some pictures of the old lungs are below keep in mind they are already segmented and research has begun on them. The lungs were undersized and honestly speaking with the doctors they don't see how I could even breath. The holes or nodules you see in the pictures are the cancer nodules for the BAC.





Someone please fix my hat my hands are compromised I am a doctor now; or at least for the moment I am :-)

Bad lung segment, notice the cancer nodules that starved me for oxygen I was slowly and daily suffocating, which would have been a painful death (mentally and physically)

The whole lung set-up (and yes it is segmented and cross-cut already) the right lung is on the left side and the left lung is on the right side. The lungs were small for my body, blame it on the sickness.

My wife and I will stop in and visit Ralph right lung and Larry left lung one more time before the research gods have their way totally with them.

visiting the old lungs today

Today I will be visiting my old lungs to have a heart to heart with them. Check that I will be having a lung to lung (ha ha laughing w/out coughing) with them. I hope to have another session with them in a week or so when my wife is here to escort me back to TX.

I will look at the lungs, probably hold them but just try to figure out where we went wrong and why they (I) got sick, they used to be so strong but suddenly became so weak, without a proper diagnosis for years and finally no valid justification as to why or how I got BAC lung cancer; go figure some things will never be known; I am at peace with that lack of knowledge. MOVING Forward....

End in sight

Smooth sailing this week with all the doc visits. Planing to return to TX first week of May ready for some BBQ and normalcy.

5weeks and counting

Still recovering according to schedule (possibly ahead of schedule) which is good so maybe I can get back to TX sooner rather than later. Bronchoscopy at 1400 PST on Tuesday so I am up eating until 0200 PST since I must fast 12 hours before the procedure that lets the docs look at my lungs. More food..........

Doc visit

Doc visit this week went well:

• PFT (Pulmonary Function Test) went up to 71%
• Have been given the green light to drive
• Possibly may be able to return to TX before June '07
• No set backs so far

News Article: Palo Alto Daily News Story 4/2/07

http://www.paloaltodailynews.com/article/2007-4-2-pa-dash-lungs


Monday Apr 2

Melissa McRobbie / Daily News

Jerrold Dash, pictured in his apartment near Stanford Medical Center on Sunday, is breathing easier these days, having received a double lung transplant at Stanford in early March. Dash had been diagnosed with lung cancer in February 2006. On the table in front of him is an apparatus that helps him measure his progress as his lungs grow stronger.
Dash gets second wind



Double lung transplant patient wins cancer fight
By Jason Green / Daily News Staff Writer


The 33-year-old Texas resident was delivering word puzzles to fellow patients awaiting transplants at Stanford University Medical Center when his pager lit up March 5.

At first Dash ignored it. But a stolen glance confirmed it was a local number. His heart was in his throat as he asked to borrow a phone.

"It was my doctor," he recalled. "He said, 'Well, we got you some lungs.'"

Since being diagnosed last February with Stage IV bronchioloalveolar carcinoma, a type of lung cancer that affects nonsmokers, the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics systems engineer had been hoping for that kind of good news.

"It was a little surreal," he said. "You prepare yourself mentally for it. But I still got a little shaky."

A day later, the diseased organs were gone and Dash was breathing more easily than he had in months. Now free of cancer and on the road to recovery, he hopes to return to Fort Worth by June, rejoining his wife, Rhonda, and their two daughters, 3-year-old Raegan and 1-year-old Ravyn.

"I couldn't believe it," said Rhonda, recalling the day Dash called her with the news. "I started jumping up and down, crying. One of my daughters knew I was talking to daddy and she asked me what was wrong with him. I said, 'Nothing. These are happy tears.'"

Although he's beaten cancer, Dash isn't pushing it out of his life. He wants to erase the stigma surrounding lung disease which, as he discovered, doesn't always affect cigarette smokers.

"First, we have to break down that stigma that you deserve lung cancer," he said. "Nobody deserves cancer. Nobody deserves lung cancer."

Dash's oncologist at Stanford, Heather Wakelee, appreciates his outlook. "Lung cancer is not just a disease of people who smoke," she said, noting that roughly 9 to 10 percent of men and 20 percent of women who develop lung cancer never smoked.

Dash also wants to be an inspiration to other late-stage bronchioloalveolar carcinoma sufferers. Transplanting lungs into such a patient is regarded by some in the medical field as a controversial procedure because "the odds of the cancer coming back are higher than not ... and Jerrold is aware of that," Wakelee said.

But for someone as young and fit as Dash, the procedure made sense. Before the operation, he was one of two patients with the cancer awaiting a transplant, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing's Web site.

"I don't want others to give up. I want them to take a risk," he said. "If you have a terminal illness, fight it. Don't accept the status quo treatment."

As strong as he sounds today, Dash acknowledged that he needed help getting through the ordeal. Prayer and the kindness of others gave him - and his family - the strength to hold on, he said.

Sue Passailaigue, for one, provided a place for him to stay in Mountain View while he waited for the call. She offers the condominium to patients such as Dash who need to be close to the hospital in case an organ becomes available. Donations of cash, time and household items help keep it open.

"Sue calls it the compassion condo," Dash said. "If the walls could talk, the stories they would tell."

Dash is now living in an apartment a stone's throw from Stanford University Medical Center and taking his recovery one day at a time. Physical therapy begins soon, but the former Winston-Salem State University fullback is already walking and doing flights of stairs.

In short, he has traded one focus, beating cancer, for another: getting healthy enough to resume the life he was forced to put on hold.

"We won't mind being a simple, uneventful family," said his wife Rhonda, who paused to smile. "We've had enough life-changing events. Sometimes boring is OK, we've found."

E-mail Jason Green at jgreen@dailynewsgroup.com.

ON THE WEB Read about Jerrold Dash's battle against cancer on his blog at 2newlungs.blogspot.com.

Uneventful weekend

The weekend was tame. We just ran errands for items for the apartment so it was good to get out despite the fact I still get a little ticked off at the glares (comatose gazes) I get when I am wearing my respirator breathing mask. I think to break-up the gazes I will make up some appropriate flash cards that will diffuse the situation :-).

Watched a movie on Saturday: Wild Hogs and it was pretty funny. It reminded me of the time I tried to teach some of my buds to ride an old motorcycle that I had when I was working in Rhode Island years ago.

On Sunday I shattered the two mile mark with ease, and finished off the walk with several sets of stadium stairs. I also began lifting weights today; nothing serious just fitness/resistance tubes working my legs ONLY.

Wrapped up another news article for the Palo Alto Daily News.
http://www.paloaltodailynews.com/article/2007-4-2-pa-dash-lungs

Walking Increase

I picked up the pace and got just over a mile and a half in today; along with a healthy dose of stadium stairs.

I think my weight is stabalizing (I lost 34 pounds in 3weeks)

Jerroldism: lessons learned so far.........

This whole ordeal has taught me a lot:

I have hopefully learned through all this more patients, and also every setback is not really a setback at all it is a setup for better things to come and just allows you the opportunity to grow the tools you need to get to where you need to be in life, love, and FAITH.

Health News

The initial pathology report is that all the junk (cancer.... BAC) was contained within my poor ol' lungs. This is good news as they have not noticed or noted any nodular activity. In short I am cancer free and hoping some good data will be gathered from the pending research that will take place on the ol' windbags.

Longest Mile

Sunday got out walked a mile around the Stanford track. The walk took a little longer than I thought but I made it through. It took a grand total of 23 minutes in lane nine so in the first lane I probably would have shaved 3 minutes off my time. I think I may try two miles this weekend when the weather warms up.

Pictures after the mile and while I was doing the stadium stairs.

News Article by the Star-Telegram

http://www.star-telegram.com/226/story/46789.html

Posted on Sat, Mar. 24, 2007

Man recovering after lung transplant

By MITCH MITCHELL

For nearly seven months, Jerrold Dash breathed uneasily as he awaited two new lungs from an organ donor.

A Fort Worth resident and nonsmoker, Dash tried not to worry about whether his lung cancer was spreading and whether he could die. While awaiting surgery in California, he relieved his anxiety by working out regularly, chatting with loved ones and chronicling his experiences on a blog -- always remaining hopeful.

This month, Dash, 33, got bittersweet news. A 30-year-old organ donor had died and his lungs were a match. Dash's wife, Rhonda Dash, arrived in Palo Alto just 2 1/2 hours before his March 6 surgery, which lasted seven hours.

"I got to the hospital just in time to talk to him and pray together," Rhonda Dash said.
Dash was released from the hospital March 15. He anticipates returning to Fort Worth by late June or early July. He had been living in California for almost a year awaiting the transplant while his wife and two young daughters stayed in Fort Worth.

As soon as Jerrold Dash can find the words, he said, he will thank the donor family in a letter he will give to a social worker at Stanford University Medical Center. Medical personnel are not allowed to reveal donor information.

All indications are that Dash's lung cancer did not spread and that his new lungs are functioning better than expected, he said.

He remains determined to help fight cancer in any way he can -- including speaking at schools and churches. The Lockheed Martin Aeronautics systems engineer donated his old lungs for research.
"In April, I will get to have a private moment with them before they slice and dice them," Dash said.
For the next few weeks, Dash must wear a mask that will help prevent infections. For the rest of his life, Dash must watch for signs of infection or tissue rejection. But the longer he remains clear of infections and the longer his body does not reject the donated organs, the better his chances are for a long and healthy life, his wife said.

Dash was one of two people with his diagnosis on the transplant waiting list in late December. Transplants for people with lung cancer are rare because of the chances of the disease spreading, said Dr. David Weill, head of Stanford's lung transplant program.

"I'm cancer-free now," Dash said. "I can do anything that I want to do."
He isn't strong enough to work out yet. Before the surgery, the exercise fanatic lifted weights at the YMCA; he used to be a fullback at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina.
"Jerrold was out of the hospital in a remarkable amount of time," said Allyson Rupp, a clinical social worker at the hospital where Dash had the surgery. "He is extremely well-built physically, and he has such an outstanding attitude. He doesn't complain about anything, and he worries about everyone else around him."

At the Dash family's church, East St. Paul Baptist Church in Fort Worth, March 11 was Jerrold Dash Day. The Rev. L.S. Wilson, senior pastor, said congregants collected an offering to help offset the Dashes' medical and related expenses. Wilson said he also encouraged others to become organ donors, because "there are a lot of other families like the Dashes out there."
Speaking out in favor of organ donation is a New Year's resolution that Dash said he is determined to keep.

"This is an opportunity to effect change in myself and others," Dash said. "This game, this cancer game has gone on for far too long. If they don't hear me one way, they will hear me another way. The lung cancer statistics are grim and negative, but I would caution anyone to bet against me. You'll lose every time."
In the Know

Transplant timeline

• March 5: Dash receives call that donor lungs are available
• March 6: Receives double lung transplant in a seven-hour operation
• March 7: Moves to intermediate intensive care unit
• March 8: Sits up to eat for the first time since surgery
• March 9: Exercises for the first time since surgery (walks around nurses' station)
• March 11: Experiences a defibrillation attack (increased heart rate associated with transplant, typical in about a third of transplant recipients, according to his doctor)
• March 13: Receives keys to new apartment near Stanford University Medical Center and has another minor atrial defibrillation attack
• March 15: Discharged from hospital
  

Contact Jerrold Dash through his blog at 2newlungs.blogspot.com

Organ donation
Find information about organ donation at Donate Life America, www.donatelife.net; United Network for Organ Sharing at www.unos.org; or LifeGift at www.lifegift.org.

News Article: by Pegasus News wire

http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2007/mar/24/fort-worth-man-gets-lung-transplant/



Saturday, March 24, 2007
Fort Worth man gets lung transplant
By Pegasus News wire


Jarrold Dash, 33, of Fort Worth had been waiting for seven months for a lung transplant. Earlier this month, he finally got the call that there was a match.
As reported by S-T Dash had lung cancer, though he was not a smoker, and while he was waiting there was always the possibility that the cancer could spread. For nearly the past year, he has been living in California, awaiting a lung donor, while his wife and children were staying in their Fort Worth home. On March 6 he received his surgery at Stanford University Medical Center, which went better than expected, and will be able to return to Fort Worth by June or July.

Transplants are extremely rare for people with lung cancer because of the high risk of the disease spreading. According to MedlinePlus "Fighting rejection is an ongoing process. The body's immune system considers the transplanted organ as an invader (much like an infection) and may attack it. To prevent rejection, organ transplant patients must take anti-rejection (immunosuppression) drugs (such as cyclosporine and corticosteroids) that suppress the body's immune response and reduce the chance of rejection." But with careful monitoring and the anti-rejection drugs, Dash is expected to live a long, healthy life.
Posted by Erin

I got flowers and cards ......

Using my artistic license I have put together a collage (MASTERPIECE) of some of the many flowers, and cards I received.

Thanks to everyone for all the calls, e-mail messages, cards, flowers/plants, and monetary offers. You all are a blessing to me keep the prayers coming.

Still on the road to recovery

Still recovering every day is a blessing and gets a little easier. I am being advised to take things slow as far as my recovery goes. I have my second outpatient clinic visit on Thursday so I hope all is still progressing according to the doctors plan (I think personally that I am doing great but lets take things one day at a time).

Leaving the Hospital

Pictures of me leaving the hospital and the mask I must now wear at least for the first year.

Additional Time line information

Some additional time line information that I was too drugged up to remember.

• March 5, 2007 Received Call (PM)
• March 6 Transplanted with 2 lungs (1:30 A – 8:30 A)
• march 7 moved to intermediate ICU, rm 341D
• march 8 sit up to eat (PM)
• march 9 walked around nurses’ station
• march 10 mother and godmother went back home
• march 11 atrial defibrillation attack (increased heart rate associated with transplant)
• march 12 blood sample, sputum sample, & urine sample to
  identify why 102.4 F. fever
  received medication list for self medication
  Received Plant #2 from Lockheed’s Executives
• March 13 received keys to h.o.m.e apts near Standford hospital another atrial defibrillation attack
• march 15 took 1st shower since transplant discharged from hospital to h.om.e apts (pm)

I'm a walking

I am walking. These pictures were taken pre-chest tube removal so you can see I had a lot of medical stuff and stuff to haul around with me.

Ugly hospital pictures

Some of the shoots of me with all types of bells, whistles and tubes going place I dare not mention :-)

The first picture (bottom Left) shows me sitting up in the bed having a breathing treatment.

The middle picture shows how sleepy you get with all the medicine along with a strong desire to catch a cat nap b/c there is no real sleeping in the hospital

The last picture (bottom right) shows my last chest tube as it is being pulled out. They asked if that hurt I responded by telling them that it was a unique once in a life time experience and come here let me bite your nose and see how that feels :-). You can also see the clam shell incision that was used to take out the bad lungs and place the new upgraded lung into my chest. Pray for my donors family and loved ones.

Jerrold update (Post Transplant) and out of the Hospital

This will be a rather long catch up blog as I have for one reason or another not been able to reach my fans since March 09, 2007. This blog will attempt to bridge the time gap from March 10, 2007 up to March 17, 2007.


Let’s begin shall we
(Disclaimer this is from my memory alone that has been on heavy heavy drugs for almost two and a half weeks now--- end of Jerrold Disclaimer)

March 10, 2007
Not much happened on this day as it was a Saturday just more pain as I recover. My Mother and God Mother prepare to leave the hospital turning over my recovery support duties to my wife. I still have 4 chest tubes in me and other IV lines running all over the place along with heart monitors…..

Some walking today, it is hard to get used to the large respitory device I must wear to filter impurities from getting in my lungs.

March 11, 2007
My worst fear was reached today; I was floating along in my recover too easily. About 4AM in the morning as my vitals were being taken and I was filling up yet another urine container I suddenly felt very uneasy on my feat; I began shaking, sweating, got hot / cold, short of breath, and my heart rate jumped from 90 something to 180 to 200 in a matter of seconds. I had basically gone into Afib http://www.hrspatients.org/patients/heart_disorders/atrial_fibrillation/default.asp
Atrial Fibrillation (also called AF or A Fib) is a common heart rhythm disorder caused by a problem in the conduction of electrical impulses in the upper chambers, or atria, of the heart.

This little incident had a major impact on me. It let me know that I have a long bumpy recovery road ahead of me. I was frightened out of my mind during the whole process as I was out of control of what was happening with me. All I could do was just lay there and let the nurses pack me in warm blankets to control the shivering, calm me down, and try to stabilize me until my heart rate reduction plan had been blessed off by the doctors. Eventually my heart rate was medically controlled but I was nervous, anxious, and darn scared for the rest of the day and did not want to be left alone.

Some walking today.

March 12, 2007
Routine day filled with lots of doctors visiting my room since the Afib incident got their attention too. We continue on the meds to slow the heart rate. All in all it was a good day. Walked very little today.

March 13, 2007
Routine slight temperature spike during the night; but it was nothing major. The doctors removed on pair of chest tubes today, which would allow me to have less things hanging and become slightly more mobile. (Side note on the pain involved: the chest tubes hurt like the dickens coming out it felt like someone was trying to saw out of my body from the inside out as the cords were being pulled through and finally out). More lap walking on my floor.

March 14, 2007
Slight Afib episode again but it was quickly controlled. I continued to have temperature spike that baffle the doctors so they get rid of all IV lines and check the access point tips in the lab for bacteria (none found). My mediport is accessed for all IV drugs I need. I addition to my walking the physical therapist brought in a stationary bike so I can have more diversity in my exercise.

March 15, 2007
Normal day; I got my last set of chest tubes out today. These sets of tube were far less painful to remove than the first. Now I am mobile I just have my IV pole to go where I go now. I am 10 pounds lighter this morning also I was given such a heavy dose of lasiks that I urinated away 10 pounds overnight. More walking ….

No temperature spikes in the last 24 hours; so the executive decision was made to release to go to the hospital HOME apartment possibly for 3months or until I am medically cleared to return to Texas. More walking and I am excited about popping this fruit stand (Free at last, Free at last, Thank GOD all mighty we are Free at last) by-MLKing Jr.

Took along walk in the evening just the wife and I. It was tough as I am still adjusting to the mask (note on the mask: the mask would be like your worst day of track practice and you have to run continuous sprints with a bandana covering you nose and another covering your mouth.)

March 16, 2007
Freedom (the first full one)

Got up at and got all my meds together, then the wife and I were out the door.running errarands (cable office, post office grocery store)

March 17, 2007
Up early in the AM working on the blog; could not sleep. Will probably run errands today and walk outside (masking tow / on the face) today.

on Sunday March 18, 2007 I was supposed to do the 12k race in San Francisco
http://www.rhodyco.com/07enab.html