CHANGES IN THE PROCESS

 In early November 2023, a friend had lung transplants. I met her through this blog and visited her home several times during our many May road trips. We talked a lot before and after her surgery, I tried to share everything I could think of that might help her through the process and recovery. After the surgery, we shared the profound feeling of gratitude for our new lungs.

What shocked me was how the process had changed in just three years since my transplants. The biggest change was when she was finally put on the transplant list, she was guaranteed a transplant in thirty days! Thirty days! I was waiting and waiting on the list for around 168 days, I think. 

Also, when I was transplanted, it was required as standard practice to be within a year of death. It was a long recovery to regain my health after being so ill. She, on the other hand, had the surgery, left the hospital in a week, went to a rehab center connected to the hospital and began pulmonary rehab. Within three weeks of her surgery, she was doing 15-minutes on the treadmill, bike and another piece of apparatus. Last week, she just finished her required 90 day stint of post-transplant rehab.

Because she was not as weak going into the surgery, her recovery was much faster. Marvelous. I am looking forward to learning any other new procedures and processes.

I also want to offer to answer any questions you may have, dear reader. I promise to answer honestly, no matter how difficult.

Anniversary #3 and Counting!

 

Well, it has been awhile since we last connected. I have so much to share and am planning to post on a regular basis again.

On January 24, 2024, Michael and I celebrated the 3-year anniversary of my lung transplants. It was a day filled with memories, shared breakfast with friends and a lovely, solitary Italian lunch together overlooking the harbor. 

A week earlier, the owner of a local company knew that I had baked baklava for years as I also brought them some before sending it to my brother for his birthdays. She gave me a recipe from Instagram for Baklava Cheesecake. Yes, you read that right. For my anniversary, I made it the day before and delivered a huge hunk of it to the company. She was so surprised and was going to immediately share it with the employees. Our neighbor and another couple also received big hunks so we just had two pieces each over two days. It was delicious and surprisingly not very sweet but rich with butter and cheesecake!

I do want to share so many things: weight, diet, Michael’s health issue and new diet, a friend’s recent transplants and the advancement in the process, speeches to nursing students, current relationship with the transplant clinic, learning to reach out, medications, limping, gardening, organizing, my 95-year old mother’s health and so much more.

On this quiet Saturday, Michael made coffee, served me yogurt before making a simple breakfast. This man makes breakfast every morning, still does all the food shopping as we are aware of crowds and I try to avoid them whenever possible. I’ll do the laundry while preparing our tax information for processing, which should take 4-5 hours. After taxes, I will make dinner as we rarely eat out. 

I am feeling fantastic, lowest weight as an adult, saturation rates have been 99-100%, low blood pressure, back to the gym, eating fantastic home cooked meals, reaching out to friends and continuing to being grateful for everyday.