A message from Lisa, Torkano's wife.
Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 10:52 pm
Tork's wife asked me to post this message for everyone.
Here is a link to the original thread
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=329
To all those that knew Torkano,
First i want to take the time to thank all of you for your kind words, and your postings. They bring tears to my eyes. It was a wonderful to hear from so many of you. And reading over your own memories has been a great experience.
I just want to tell you a little about him so that you may each get a chance to experience him. He was born with cystic fibrosis. His brother passed away at the age of 8 from it. Russ (Tork) lead a pretty normal life. Causing trouble and the such. When he was 23 he received his first transplants. At this time he was the first surviving double lung and liver. The one they tried severaly years before that was unsucessful. He was home in only 5 weeks!
I met him only a few short months after his transplants. What can I say, he was a charmer. He moved up to Titusville with me only a few short months after dating. a year after his transplants. He soon became a wonderful father to my son, Damian. He took him in as his own. He never thought he would have the chance at a family. That fall/winter he became very sick. He had picked up a cold from kid we knew and it went straight to his lungs. We also learned he had contracted the Parvo virus. It can be carried as a cold in children, but destroys the red blood cells in immunosuppressed patiends. He was severly anemic. Couldn't make bone marrow either. Every 3-4 weeks Russ had to undergo a 4 hour long IV therapy. We then learned that he was in chronic rejection.
We were sposed to be married May 28, 2005. Everything was already planned out. Instead, I was bringing him home from yet another hospital stay. We ended up getting married June 11, 2005 at my parents house. Less than 2 months later he was back in the hospital fighting for his life. On Aug 31, 2005 Russ received his second double lung transplant. They told us after the procedure that he wouldn't have made it 2 more days without it.
This stay lasted 112 days. I was constantly traveling the 2 1/2 hours to visit him. This set was amazing. He made it almost 4 years without rejection! It was wonderful! He had a life again. Although he was unable to leave the house during flu season, and such. We had our life back. Our one year wedding anniversary was celebrated with the wedding we had origionally planned. What a celebration it was!
June 11, 2009 (our anniversary) he was readmitted (several hosp stays between however) and we found out he had severe rejection. And then his kidneys failed. At this point he required dialysis.
At this point he had lost his quality of life, but continued fighting. I have never seen someone fight so hard, and continually come out on top. He had been written off so many times, but was still able to recover.
The whole month of October he was on and off of the ventilator. Then on Nov 4, 09 I received a phone call that i needed to come right down to the hosp. Russ wanted to talk to me. He had made the decision that he did not want the trach, and that it would cause needless suffering. So he had prayed for 2 days, and decided to have the vent pulled. Our whole family was there. I knew whatever happened that he was going to be ok.
Once the vent was pulled. And i do mean the minute it was pulled he was eating pizza! Very unlikely for vent patients. What can i say, he always got his way. Very stubborn. We had one WONDERFUL hour with him until he went unresponsive. He was made comfortable, but yet still continued to fight for 12 hours. He passed away at 8:35am Nov 5, 2009. He gave me the comfort of not having to make the decision of pulling the vent for him. For that i am grateful everyday.
I got so much for time with Russ than I had ever expected to. I would never go back and change one minute of it. I miss him every day. He was the strongest, kindest, most stubborn, loving, and goofiest guy i had the pleasure of knowing and loving. He loved to make people laugh, which i am sure that most of you got to experience.
He loved playing this game. He loved coming up with witty comments. I know he loved many of you. He did not share his personal life with many people. When it came to health, he was very private. He never wanted anyone to feel sorry for him or treat him differently.
I want to thank each and everyone of you for adding joy to his life. For making him laugh. And for letting me get the chance to hear your memories and impressions of Torkano! It has been great!
Thank you so much! I appreciate it all more than any words can express. For Russ/Torkano will be Forever in our hearts!
Always,
Lisa Linkerhof
(Stickied this, little different then the original thread. - Teanos)
Here is a link to the original thread
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=329
To all those that knew Torkano,
First i want to take the time to thank all of you for your kind words, and your postings. They bring tears to my eyes. It was a wonderful to hear from so many of you. And reading over your own memories has been a great experience.
I just want to tell you a little about him so that you may each get a chance to experience him. He was born with cystic fibrosis. His brother passed away at the age of 8 from it. Russ (Tork) lead a pretty normal life. Causing trouble and the such. When he was 23 he received his first transplants. At this time he was the first surviving double lung and liver. The one they tried severaly years before that was unsucessful. He was home in only 5 weeks!
I met him only a few short months after his transplants. What can I say, he was a charmer. He moved up to Titusville with me only a few short months after dating. a year after his transplants. He soon became a wonderful father to my son, Damian. He took him in as his own. He never thought he would have the chance at a family. That fall/winter he became very sick. He had picked up a cold from kid we knew and it went straight to his lungs. We also learned he had contracted the Parvo virus. It can be carried as a cold in children, but destroys the red blood cells in immunosuppressed patiends. He was severly anemic. Couldn't make bone marrow either. Every 3-4 weeks Russ had to undergo a 4 hour long IV therapy. We then learned that he was in chronic rejection.
We were sposed to be married May 28, 2005. Everything was already planned out. Instead, I was bringing him home from yet another hospital stay. We ended up getting married June 11, 2005 at my parents house. Less than 2 months later he was back in the hospital fighting for his life. On Aug 31, 2005 Russ received his second double lung transplant. They told us after the procedure that he wouldn't have made it 2 more days without it.
This stay lasted 112 days. I was constantly traveling the 2 1/2 hours to visit him. This set was amazing. He made it almost 4 years without rejection! It was wonderful! He had a life again. Although he was unable to leave the house during flu season, and such. We had our life back. Our one year wedding anniversary was celebrated with the wedding we had origionally planned. What a celebration it was!
June 11, 2009 (our anniversary) he was readmitted (several hosp stays between however) and we found out he had severe rejection. And then his kidneys failed. At this point he required dialysis.
At this point he had lost his quality of life, but continued fighting. I have never seen someone fight so hard, and continually come out on top. He had been written off so many times, but was still able to recover.
The whole month of October he was on and off of the ventilator. Then on Nov 4, 09 I received a phone call that i needed to come right down to the hosp. Russ wanted to talk to me. He had made the decision that he did not want the trach, and that it would cause needless suffering. So he had prayed for 2 days, and decided to have the vent pulled. Our whole family was there. I knew whatever happened that he was going to be ok.
Once the vent was pulled. And i do mean the minute it was pulled he was eating pizza! Very unlikely for vent patients. What can i say, he always got his way. Very stubborn. We had one WONDERFUL hour with him until he went unresponsive. He was made comfortable, but yet still continued to fight for 12 hours. He passed away at 8:35am Nov 5, 2009. He gave me the comfort of not having to make the decision of pulling the vent for him. For that i am grateful everyday.
I got so much for time with Russ than I had ever expected to. I would never go back and change one minute of it. I miss him every day. He was the strongest, kindest, most stubborn, loving, and goofiest guy i had the pleasure of knowing and loving. He loved to make people laugh, which i am sure that most of you got to experience.
He loved playing this game. He loved coming up with witty comments. I know he loved many of you. He did not share his personal life with many people. When it came to health, he was very private. He never wanted anyone to feel sorry for him or treat him differently.
I want to thank each and everyone of you for adding joy to his life. For making him laugh. And for letting me get the chance to hear your memories and impressions of Torkano! It has been great!
Thank you so much! I appreciate it all more than any words can express. For Russ/Torkano will be Forever in our hearts!
Always,
Lisa Linkerhof
(Stickied this, little different then the original thread. - Teanos)