Donate for Brandy's Healing Journey

Ringgold High School Football wants to raise funds for the Holtcamp family to help them with medical bills after Brandy's double lung transplant and during the long recovery period.

Brandy has battled with difficulty breathing for years now after an illness that nearly took her life and left her lungs damaged. She was recently put on the transplant list and by God's grace they received the call from Vanderbilt this morning that they have a match. We ask that you pray for the long road ahead for Brandy and her family. #WeR

Update for tonight. Surgery has been pushed to 6am 8/11/24. Hopefully they can get some sleep. I feel blessed that we are the giving community we are.

Update 8/11/24: Day 1 from Coby’s FB.

Brandy is out of surgery and being transported to ICU room. Dr said everything went good. She did great . She will be on ecmo for a day or two maybe more who knows right now and is still intubated of course. Tonight she will sleep and tomorrow we will hopefully get a chance to speak to her . All progress will totally depend on how her body adjust to the new lungs. They cant give us any definite timeframe on anything till they see how her levels and numbers adjust I'm almost certain. They informed us that this process is usually 2 steps forward and 1 back. The outpouring of thoughts and prayers ,calls and texts is unbelievable. We just don't have the words to describe how everyone has made us feel. Well, there aren't any words . Thank you just isn't enough. Now, we hope and pray she improves with each day . We are blessed and God is good!

Update 8/12/24: Day 2-The team is going to do a tracheostomy on Brandy this morning to try and help possibly speed up the lung activities. This is not a bad thing just another "crutch" as the Dr put it. Her numbers and levels are good I've been told. She looks good, but the dust is still settling and they are doin a great job of finding out what the next move may need to be. Right now it's a time thing. Her body needs time to adjust and adapt.

Update 8/14/24: Day 4- Brandy will stay on ECMO today. They feel one more day is what she needs to be able to come off tomorrow. It's a constant balancing act between ECMO and ventilator. They are weening her off slowly they wont make any rash decisions of course. We've been here before. She's in great spirits and they are giving her plenty of pain meds to comfort her. They did a bronchoscopy today to get a closer look at the new lungs I'm sure that will help with decision making. Once the lungs start picking up progress all other crutches will be taken away. Thanks again. We do see all the support that people are giving and we are totally blown away . Thank you thank you! One day at a time.

Day 5 : They are taking Brandy off ECMO. This is a great start to a long recovery but if her blood gasses start to worsen they will go back to it. Every positive move is subject to reversal depending on how her body reacts . If the lungs can oxygenate properly without help we are good. Being off ECMO will also allow her to walk more during physical therapy which will only help her even more. Her pain comes and goes she sat in a chair yesterday for about hr half. Overall, Dr's are very pleased with her progress ,very pleased . Some start a little slower than others with this surgery but all end up at the finish line! People just keep on helping and supporting us and we can't even begin to extend enough gratitude. God is good ! One day at a time. Thank you ,thank you ,thank you!

Day 6: Brandy is showing improvement every day. They are slowly weaning a support that is connected to her vent, that will be taken off today. They are taking 2 of her 4 chest tube's out today also. Dr came and told her it's time to start of boot camp for her. They will begin walking her 2-3 times a day so lungs can expand and get exercise along with vent adjustment as needed. One day at a time . As always thank you all for the outpouring of thoughts and prayers!

Day 7: They moved us last night to Medical ICU instead of CVICU . Since Brandy is off ECMO she more suited for this unit. Bigger ,nicer rooms! They removed the nitric support from vent yesterday along with 2 chest tubes. She got up and walked close 50 yards and would have went more but her tachycardia acted up and her heart rate jumped to over 200. So, basically at this point, they will continue to work on weaning her from the ventilator. Today they will try some tests where she's breathing and the vent kicks in when her body tells it to instead of the opposite . She is still on a feeding tube so she is thirsting to death she says. Just getting some water swabs right now. She will continue to walk every day, that is key. So nutrition, building strength and time for lungs to adapt . Meanwhile keeping all "bugs " away. Time will tell. No rushing anything at this point. This place is amazing and she is under multiple groups of Dr's daily. One day at a time.

Day 9: No major happenings lately. Yesterday was a full day of rest. She still has 2 chest tubes for fluid drainage, trach will be there for a while ,they are trying to cut back on the vent so she can breathe more on her on so they can slowly take that support away. Her tachycardia his acting up they are trying to find right meds to control it. Dr's think she is doin really good at the 9 day post operation mark. So we will keep on keepin on! One day at a time. Thank you all!!

Day 10: Today has been a good day for Brandy. Her oxygen saturation has held up really well with the ventilator support lowered . She has sat the majority of the day on 50% support vs. 60% previously . She walked a whole lap around ICU and could've done more . Everyone was so impressed. That's another win ! One day at a time!

Day 12: Dr's told us during this process we will take 2 steps forward and 1 back. Yesterday was a rough one for Brandy. They detected some fluid behind her heart and her saturation levels fell overnight. So, they went in and drained quiet a bit of fluid off her heart yesterday. Today, Dr's noticed through bloodwork that some antibodies have appeared and they need to treat those so they can get rid of them. They will start a dialysis-like process 2-3 hrs a day for 5 days try and rid her body of those. It's alot, and there's some other dense areas in lungs that they will have to deal with also, not sure if it's blood, infection or what yet. For now the focus is antibodies in her body not helping things progress like they should. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers, as always! One day at a time. We are in the best hands we could ever ask for.

Day 17: Brandy is facing rejection right now and is being treated to try and reverse it. The body recognizes a foreign substance and dont like it. We are planning on being in ICU for couple more weeks probably, they dont know, I don't feel like we're too close right now. They finished a 5 day series of plasma replacement procedures and now they are gonna move on to the next phase. She also has a pretty severe dense mass on her right side between lungs and chest wall that they are going to try and break up today with some declotting meds, this will allow her lung on that side to expand properly. On a brighter note, she has slowly improved in some other areas . Kidneys are doin better, she walked yesterday about 150 yds and the vent has been lowered somewhat . This is a slow , balancing act with meds and her lungs and everything else that stands in the way . Looking at a long recovery but definitely thankful for any and all positive news/results daily. Day to day.

Day 22: Brandy has improved overall with everything goin on from last post. The rejection antibodies are slowly reducing after 2 different phases of medicine. Hope we don't have to go back to any of that. The infections are still there, and of course, still being treated. The fluid around the heart has some infection in it and they said that was unusual ,but it was similar to the other infections so can be treated with same meds. It's definitely a roller coaster. The vent settings are almost minimal right now which is really good. They work every day on her taking breaths on low settings so eventually she will be totally weaned off vent and then go to wall oxygen , basically like when someone is on a tank . They informed us numerous times that it's a slow process . As of the last couple days, she is trending positively but things can change daily so we will hang on to all positive, small victories and continue to be cautious. Thanks again to all the people who are still supporting us in so many ways, there's no way we could ever repay you guys. Thank you! One day at a time .

Day 26: I've noticed alot of people are commenting on an old post. We are definitely feeling the prayers and they are working,but be aware of the date on my updates. Lol! Brandy has made some positive strides the past few days and we hope that continues. She is getting on a trach collar for couple hrs a day for her lungs to get some good exercise. So some time off the vent is a good thing! Walking each day about 150 yds . Today speech therapy is coming by and doing some swallow and speech tests with her. Hopefully she may be able to talk and drink something soon. Dr's are keeping an eye on her potassium levels. They think some of the meds may be causing it to climb. Her labs are going good and we are cautiously taking it one day ata time. Thank each and every one of yall who has commented, texted, called , messaged etc etc. It means the world to us and our family! Thank you, thank you , thank you!!!

Day 32: Brandy has had several good days,but is extremely ready for things to move a little faster. She struggles at times with the lack of pace in her overall progress. They keep reminding her it's a marathon not a sprint. She is still putting out alot of fluid through her chest tubes and retaining too much CO2. They did a bronchoscopy yesterday and sent some biopsies off , we will know more about those tomorrow. Drs think there's still some rejection going on . She will have a more in depth swallow test tomorrow to see what she will be able to eat for sure. Right now it's ice chips and pudding. She walked again today along with some extra PT ,that was good after a slow start to the day. Thanks for all of the love and support. One day at a time!