Day 48

Pretty tired today.  Not sleeping well.  Still went to see my girls at the Pulmonary Rehab Center at Morton Plant Hospital.  I just wanted to thank them for all their help.. There were 5 nurses that I dealt with on a regular basis before the transplant.  They were elated to see me and to hear that I had the transplant.  What a great group of caring individuals.  Went to the Post Office, then to the beach to run/walk my 2 1/2 miles.  Lovely Linda came home from work to have lunch with me and the dogs.  What a  treat.  Went to Sprint to get my phone fixed, not that it happened.  They don't repair anything anymore, they just upgrade you so it costs you money.  Feeling good overall, but I'm going to cut this one short.  See you tomorrow.

History IV

Later in the day I got a call from Dr. Haddad, the doctor I first met at Tampa General Hospital.  He wanted to make sure that I knew time was of the essence.  I had already spoken with Lovely Linda about the previous phone call from TGH and decided to go ahead and allow them to put me on the list for Lungs.  I was after all going downhill fast.  Bathing and dressing took my breath away.  So, when Dr. Haddad called and we spoke at length, I told him that I was ready to be put on the list.  February 10th, 2010 I was entered into the data base for lungs through the National Organ Donation Group, ( or something like that).  What a scary thought, someone else's lungs in my body.  What choice did I have?  An early death was eminent without the transplant.  And I mean within a year.  I truly believe that.  Everyone was happy that I decided to do this, but I was scared to death.  The National statistics show that with a transplant the average life expectancy is only 4.6 years.  Well, I believed I could last that long without it.  Remember, as I had to remind myself, that statistic includes everyone that has other things wrong with them.  Everything from cancer to cystic fibrosis.  I was fortunately healthy, except for those lungs.  I have found people 20 years post transplant still going strong.  I plan to be the longevity record holder with 2 transplanted lungs.  After all, I picked up 22 year younger lungs.