I can't express enough how much I've looked forward to writing this email. Today I was fortunate enough to get to spend a little time with my friend, and fellow dairy farmer, Greg Casey. In case you are new to our email, here is a brief version of the back story. In September of 2020, Greg got COVID. He spent a week or two at our local hospital in Rome before being transferred to Emory. After a few months on a ventilator, It was apparent that Greg's lungs had been catastrophically damaged from the covid infection. The Doctors at Emory recommended Greg for a double lung transplant at the University of Florida Medical Center. This was a very new procedure, and hence very risky, but it was Greg's only choice. In January of 2021, Greg was Transferred to Florida, and shortly thereafter a donor set of lungs became available. At the time of his transplant, only around 20 of these operations had ever been done. The operation was successful and Greg spent the next several months in Flordia doing rehab and being monitored by his transplant team. This past summer he was able to come home and continue his rehab under the care of Emory doctors. Over the recent months, he has continued local rehab, where he is continuing to add strength, stamina, and weight. No matter what you think about covid, it wreaked havoc on my buddy. There were many times I doubted that I'd ever be able to talk to him again... But today I did. No doubt due to his faith, strength, grit, determination, fight, and love for his family, he never gave up. Many of you prayed for this situation and gave through Greg's church fund. This family felt that, and they are so appreciative for all of those prayers and support. I personally want to thank each of you who followed this story and supported my friend in prayer. He told me today that he still doesn't have the strength or stamina to do the things he wants to do, but he's working toward those goals through rehab. Most importantly he is still with us, and back where he belongs, on his farm. It was truly great to visit with my friend today. Praise the Lord for his healing power.
