Yesterday at 6:10pm, my dad left this earth for place far better than where we all are now. He fought long and hard till the end, and was the best father that I could have ever asked for. Why God took his soul away from us is beyond me, but, like my dad said, "God has a plan, and if he wants me here, he'll keep me here, and if he wants me in heaven, then he'll take me."
The infection that he had was extremely rare. Actually, he's the only lung transplant patient to ever get this type of 'mold' infection. The doctors tried everything, even experimental drugs and methods, and thought they had a cure, but the mold proved to be too strong for the drugs. At least he wasn't in pain. The docs and nurses did a good job keeping him as comfortable as possible.
He was doing so well with the recovery after the double lung transplant... his surgery went well, we had a few scares after the surgery, but he pulled through all of them with flying colors. He was weeks ahead of schedule in recovering than what they had expected. All this happened because the paramedics who tried to save his lung donor was not sterile enough. One little speck of dirt, soil, dust, whatever, got into her lungs when they were trying to save her, which then turned out to be my dads new lungs. That's all it took to spark this whole thing. Maybe because of his fate, someone down the road will be saved from the same infection. Maybe they'll try new screenings and find ways to make organs more sterile before going into surgery. Thats what he wanted... something good to come out of this. Everything happens for a reason. Maybe the person he saves will end up saving us all, or doing some kind of good in the world at least. We'll never really know.
His doctor really cared about him. When he told my family the bad news, that mold had grown stronger than the drug that was working so well, he had tears in his eyes. He said out of all the patients he's seen, my dad had the strongest will to live, was the most willing to try anything to make him better, even the experimental stuff that could've killed him then, and was so willing to participate in research studies that might help someone in the future.
The thing that saddens me the most is that my little sister, who'll be 7 years old in a few days, will grow up without a father. She'll never get to experience the things that I did with him. My parents got divorced when I was young, and I lived with my dad. I know it wasn't easy for him, but he's taught me so much over the years, and raised me the way he thought was best. I turned out ok, so he definitely did things right. He touched the lives of many, and would do anything for someone in need. He had many friends who loved him and will miss him dearly.
I truly believe he's in heaven. He was a good man, strong in his faith, and was not afraid of death because he knew that where he was going would be far greater than anything we can even comprehend here on earth. I'm thankful for the time I've gotten to spend with him, and I know he's happy in heaven, and that gives me the peace and comfort I need.
Thank all of you for your thoughts and prayers.
And by the way, a friend of mine talked me into reading 'Heaven is for Real', which is an amazing book and tells the most beautiful true story of a young boy who I think really experienced heaven. If you haven't read it or heard of it... buy it. You'll be glad you did.
