"We have done the impossible, and that makes us mighty."

I'm going to take this one post and brag about myself and my family, which I don't normally do, but I think today can be an exception. Today my dad is making the journey to the hospital, where he might remain for 5 months after his surgery.

Just in case you missed what is going on with my family, I'll give you a recap.
Dad's organs how now reached the limit of what they can do to keep up with his "Bum Ticker", and now he has to save those organs that have kept on going after not getting enough blood, he has to get a heart that can keep enough blood flowing through the body to keep his other organs running, and to do that, he has to get a TAH (Total Artificial Heart). This means, he is going to have to go through a tricky surgery, and stay in the hospital after the surgery for 2-5 months.

Here are the pros and cons of the surgery:

Cons:
The surgery is more tricky than just a plain old heart surgery, so the risk factor is higher.
Not be eligible for real heart after the surgery for 2-8 weeks.
If he comes home with the TAH, have someone 24/7 with him at all times that is trained with it if anything goes wrong. (That includes the nights that Mom works, when we go out to eat, ANYTHING)

Pros:
He goes up to almost the top of the heart transplant list.
He will feel much better when he comes home (if he comes home)
Most people get a heart before they come home on the TAH, which means he could have the surgery, recover in 2 weeks, get a heart, then be home in a total of a month. (That is the best case scenario)

We have gotten this info in bits an pieces over the past few weeks, and it has been a crazy two weeks.

Now, I'm gonna take this time to brag about my family.

We have endured the last 5 years, the first 2 years we traveled and moved constantly, never staying in the same place or house for more than 3 months, traveling with hardly anything. I remember bringing a computer, a few other electronics, and me and my brother each had a 5 foot by 3 foot box to fit the toys and other little things I wanted to bring, and to play with for the next 3 months. Then we moved finally near Boston, where one of the best doctors for hearts that is in the USA. We lived there for 8 months, then was turned down by the hospital, saying there was too many people on the transplant list, it would take us years to get high enough on the list to get a heart, and dad simply would not live long enough to get a heart there. We then moved to Lebanon PA, where we still live today for around 2 years. When we first moved here, we were told that dad would have to stay in the hospital for a week, every 6 weeks, then about 4 hospital stays later, it changed to 2 weeks every 6 weeks. And 2 weeks ago, we were told that my dad would have to have a transplant to keep his body going long enough to get a transplant.

But you know what?  We beat it, we traveled for 2 years to get our dad where he needed to be to live, we then moved again a year later to get him, again, where he needed to be. And now, we will beat this. Even if it takes 5 months for him to get out, even if it takes even longer after that to get a heart, we will wait and fight, because our dad is worth fighting for.

When I see my friends, and their parents get in the pool with them, or goes outside to sword fight with them, or goes out to rock climb, me and my brother have never had that, we watch those people and think, "How lucky are they" For the first time in 2 years, our dad about a month ago went out and went to a water park, and got in the water, which I cant remember him doing in a very long time. Our Dad does more than what most people could if they were disabled, he plans our school year and cooks, he goes out to eat and plays games, but I cant wait to have a dad that I can go and DO something with.

So, do you want to know what I say when people say "Eh, well the odds are that blah blah blah"
When people say that, I think about my dad. 1 in 100 people have a heart problem. 1 in 100,000 of those people have to get a heart transplant. And 1 in 1,000,000 people have to get a TAH. If you have ever met me in real life, you will hear me talk about the "Johnson Luck". This, right here, is what I am talking about.

Alright, sorry if I made you cry or depressed, go and watch something funny and happy, but just remember, most families can go out and go to a amusement park, or go to the pool, dont take it for granted, do it and have a good time, because some of us don't have that luxury.