Time Flies

Where did February go?! I've been meaning to sit down and put an update on here for the last 2 weeks and things have just been a little crazy in our house.

Kelly turned 17, which is a little scary. On her actual birthday she was on her way to school and got in a car accident. What a great gift, huh! Everyone was fine, but the cars were a little banged up. We've been dealing with the aftermath of the other driver since though. Neither Kelly or the other kid were given a ticket so the plan was to have the insurance companies pay for their own cars. The other driver didn't have collision coverage so they threatened to sue... people are just so friendly anymore :) But I think that's all resolved now, or at least, I hope it is.

February 9 I went back up to Cleveland for my 1 year appointment!! I spent a lot of that week just reflecting on everything I've been through this last year. There are times when it feels like my transplant was forever ago, and then in the same moment, it feels like it still hasn't happened. Like the 2 years leading up to transplant were all just a bad dream and I woke up, got out of bed, and felt fine. I also got a letter from Lifebanc, the group that handles the correspondence between donors and recipients, and they said they were unable to deliver my letter to my donor family because they were unable to locate them. That kind of deflated me for a few days... I wanted to get a letter back so badly!! I want to know who my donor was and to be able to thank the family properly. I know if it's meant to be it'll happen, but it doesn't make it suck any less.

That Friday, Cleveland called with my biopsy results telling me that I was, once again, in slight rejection. I wasn't so upset about the fact that I was in rejection (they just up my prednisone and see me back in about a month), I was upset that I had to go back for another biopsy. My last biopsy was suppose to be at the 1 year mark unless something went wrong. So March 15 and 16 (yes, it's a 2 day trip this time... don't even get my family started on that...) I go back up, see the doctors and have, what I'm hoping really is this time, my last biopsy.

February 13th marked 1 year for me and I couldn't stop smiling the whole day. To me, making it to 1 year is a HUGE step! So, in true family tradition, we had a 1st Birthday Party for dear Andrew :) So many people came... friends, family, anyone who was in town and we ate and drank and had the best time. Cameron took some pictures but I haven't had a chance to look at them yet. If I find a good one, I'll try and post it on here. I'm still working on getting all of the thank-you notes written for the beautiful gifts people brought... which was not the purpose of the party, but I loved each gift all the same.

Around that time, I also quit my job at Wendy's. I think I've outgrown it at this point. It was great in high school, but I'm ready to get through school and have a real job. Preferably something that isn't so physical would be nice too. After years of dance and all of the surgeries, my body hurts!!

Finally, last week my dad was trying to get Sam (our older dog who has cataracts real bad) back into the house. After he picked the dog up and started walking back, he slipped on some snow/ice in our backyard and fell. I'm guessing his foot got caught on a tree root, but the result was that he broke his right leg down near the ankle. So for the last week and a half I've been driving my dad to work and just trying to help him get around the house. He's on crutches and has an air cast, so he can't put any weight on the right leg... poor Daddy :( He goes back to the ortho the same day that I go back to Cleveland... Don't know how we're going to make that work, but somehow it will just have to happen.

So that's all that's been going on in around here. Nothing too exciting :) I'm going to try and get out here more often but I don't know how my schedule's going to be in the next few months. Cameron and I are still planning on moving in June and I plan on starting classes at UC then as well. Wish me luck!!

Button's Gone!

So I went to see Dr. Trapnell last Thursday and things are looking good :) My weight is up to 109lbs and my PFT is holding at 65%! yay! So that meant that I could get my g-tube out. I don't think I've ever been so happy in my life! On Monday that's where Dad and I went... to see Dr. J to get my button removed. Now I have a hole in my stomach where it was, but that'll heal over some time. Hopefully by tomorrow I can stop putting the gauze over it to prevent stuff from leaking out. Just think, this summer I could wear a bikini if I want to now... well, ok, maybe not a bikini. I have a few too many scars to make that look pretty :) But maybe I will just on principle now!

On other, rather depressing news, I wasn't accepted back to St. Elizabeth's program. I didn't really get a clear answer as to why, but there ya have it. I have applied to the University of Cincinnati and hopefully they'll take me. We'll see.

2009

So I thought I'd follow the trend and sumerize 2009 as I saw it.

January didn't hold anything new for me. More IV's, another trip to Cleveland, and growing anticipation for my new lungs to arrive. I remember lots of nights crying myself to sleep because I had to hook myself up to so many machines just to sustain life. All I wanted in life was my second chance.

February came and I had my first shot at my rebirth on the 9th. It wasn't meant to be that night but it sure scared the hell out of everyone involved. Little did we know that the following week would be that life changing event. February 13th at 8pm I went in for surgery and on the 15th I took my first breath on my own with Andrew. It wasn't the amazing movie moment where I gasped in air and everything was better, but it was amazing and I have a picture of me at that moment -- Best. picture. ever.

March I was still having clotting issues which would haunt me for the next couple months. But the best part of that month was the fact that I got to go back home to Cincinnati. I made it to Kelly's dance competitions for the first time in years, cheered her on, and overall just enjoyed life! I also found out that Jessica had passed, which is something that still makes my heart hurt when I think about it.

April I had to go back to Cleveland to be admitted... again... for a yeast infection they found in the liquid they drained from my left lung. Wasn't a bad trip, just long... but switched my antifungal medication around and back home we go :) I was also having a hard time tolerating some of my meds (mostly the CellCept) which were making me so sick! But again, more adjusting to meds and sent on my way.

May marked 3 months post-transplant. We had the CF walk where I was honored by cutting the ribbon to start the walk. I still have the ribbon sitting in my room... now to figure out what to do with it :) I also learned that the fluid around my left lung was back and now required surgery to remove. That was scheduled for June 8th so I could see my sister's dance recital.

June was a hard month. I went back up to Cleveland for my surgery, which was suppose to be laporscopically done, but nope. They had to hope my side up since the liquid had solidified so much. I woke up in more pain than I had when I woke up from tranplant. Of course, the drugs were different, but still... OWW!! I spent all of June battling pain from that procedure. I did make it home though in time for my "Yay Lungs!" party. It was so great to be able to celebrate with everyone... even though I don't remember much since I had so many pain killers in my system.

July wasn't much better. I was still on pain meds, which caused serious constipation, which landed me back in the hospital. Fortunately I was able to be in Cincinnati for that stay. Once I had a good poop though, the pain started to go away. Go figure ;) When I was released from the hospital, Cameron and I went to see Momma Mia, which is fantastic!

August was great! I went to a Red's game with Cameron and our friend Jesse. Walked all the way up to the top seats and didn't even get winded! It was wonderful :) I then made my way up to Columbus to visit my friend Michelle. It was great to go up there without having all of my medical supplies. I then got to go out to dinner with all of my guy friends from WKU for my 25th birthday. On my actual birthday I was sick. I think it was food poisoning from the restaurant we went to, but no one else get sick, so who knows. I then found out that Danny had passed, and that just about broke my heart.

September I started dance classes again. It had been so long since I'd been able to complete a dance class, it felt amazing to do so! I just kept living life to it's fullest :)

October was yet another bump. I went for my appointment at Cleveland to check to make sure the rejection had cleared, and when they did the biopsy, they caused my right lung to collapse. So most of October I spent trying to get that pain under control. Wasn't as bad as the decortication surgery though. I even went back to work at the end of the month. Wendy's :D

November was boring. I don't mean that as a bad thing, I was very happy with boring. I got up, went to work, came home, went to dance, slept and ate. I got to go out the day after thanksgiving for some quality Black Friday shopping. It was great to do it without an O2 tank!!

December was full of Christmas Cheer :) All I can say is that I'm happy to have the holidays without having IVs, without having to worry about being sick, just quality time with family and friends.

That's 2009 in a nutshell... I can only hope that 2010 is even better!!

Andrew's first Thanksgiving

I know I've gotten really bad about updating my blog. What can I say, it's hard to do when you're busy :) and I like it that way :) but this is my late Thanksgiving entry.

I had today off work and didn't have any appointments, so I spent most of the morning catching up on my fellow CF blogs and forums. So much has happened with them, including a lot of CF deaths. It just hits on a deep level that is hard to describe. There's been a few CFers that have received their lung transplants, which always makes me smile. Then there's one cystic who's blog I've been following, she's #1 on her list right now. Maybe she'll get lungs by Christmas! Reading everyone's transplant journeys makes me remember my whole experience and I can't help but smile. While it was one of the hardest things I've ever done, the rewards I've received after have been wonderful!

It all reminds me of all that I have to be thankful for this year. I'm alive... above and beyond anything else, I AM ALIVE! Truth be told, I wasn't sure I was going to be here this year for Thanksgiving. So I leave this entry with just a simple thanks... Thank you to all of the organ donors (especially mine :) ), to all of the members of CF.com which have given me such support, and most of all, my family. Without them I wouldn't have had the strength to get through this last year.

Yay!!

So it's been a month since they biopsied and collapsed my right lung. That's all healed and I'm returning to dance tonight. I didn't quite feel up to dancing since I was dealing with the pain in my lung. It wasn't constant, just when I took a deep breath. Ya know, the thing you do when you're dancing and exercising :)

I started working last week. Most of Sunday I spent with my head in the toilet because of an antibiotic I was taking for infiltrates they saw on my xray when I saw Dr. Trapnell. They stopped the antibiotic and I felt much better. Thought I should give work a try since I was scheduled and knew I wasn't contagious. So Monday I went in and tried to work 11-2. I spent most of my shift sitting in the back office because I kept getting light headed and whiting out... not black out, white. I think it was because I was dehydrated from being sick Sunday. I worked again on Tuesday and only had to take one 5 minute break because I felt a little weak. I worked again on Friday and that went much better.

Thursday I was back up in Cleveland for the repeat/9 month bronch. Cleveland does bronchs with biopsies at 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and one year. Then I'm done unless a problem comes up. It was the never ending day... 7:30 started it all with bloodwork, like always, and my bronch was at 3:30. We finally got in the car around 5:30 and didn't get home until 10pm. Dr. Budev did my bronch this time and said that everything looked wonderful but wouldn't be surprised if I had a slight amount of rejection because of my anti-rejection med levels being pretty low. Well, here's the best part. I talked to Cleveland today and everything about the bronch came back negative. So I have to reduce my prednisone and I'm off all of my antibiotics as of tomorrow! yay!

So off to work I go tomorrow for 3 days and then tap on friday :) Life's good again :)