History V

I was put on the National Registry for Lungs.  16 days later I was called at 8 a.m.  Susan, with the Tampa Transplant Team, asked me if I had eaten yet.  I responded that I had a full bowl of cereal and milk, a cup of coffee, and a half of a banana sitting in front of me.  I had already eaten half of the banana.  She said good, stop, don't eat anything else.  They had a pair of lungs that looked good and were a good match for me.  The way that they match is though blood type, size of the body, and quality of the organs.  They don't want a smoker, nor anyone who has or has had cancer.  There are other disqualifying ingredients, but these are the major ones.  I asked her if I had time to think about it.  She said no, if I want them I had to tell her right then.  Wow, what a decision to make.  I was deciding whether to have someone fillet open my chest and have someone else's lungs put in my chest and hope they will work without being rejected by my own body.  Take a minute and think about that...................  In the end I said yes.  What was the alternative?  Death.  Susan said okay and that she would call me back in two hours.  What had I just agreed to?..................................................................

Day 55

Hi!  I'm back.  After much discussion, it has been decided that once a week blog is better than everyday.  Sorry, most people get tired of hearing from me everyday, so we'll do once a week.  It's been an up and down week.  They changed some of my Meds around and I was walking around like a Zombie throughout the day.  I didn't have enough energy to do any exercising or just about anything else.  I went to TGH for clinic on Monday, told Dr. Haddad what was up and he had me stop one of the pills he had me start 2 weeks ago and moved another to the morning.  Now I'm not taking anything that will cause me to stay up at night and not be able to sleep.  So, I don't take anything as a sleep aid.  I am a terrible drug addict.  I have such a low tolerance that even the non-drowsy medications make me drowsy.  I am beginning to be able to taste food again.  Boy, it sucks when everything tastes so bland.  I have no desire for sweets, which used to be my downfall.  I used to want chocolate and Ice cream at night before bed.  I guess that's a good thing, not to want sweets.  But I don't know how I'm going to gain weight like this.  Remember, I went from 215 lbs. down to 159 lbs.  I am still at 159 lbs. Lungs are working well, breathing tests that I do every morning are good.  I don't cough when I eat nor when I talk on the phone.  My voice is okay, not great.  When I had the stroke, during the transplant procedure, it paralyzed my right side as well as my vocal cords.  I had a second operation to add filament to my vocal chord to allow it to vibrate better.  It has helped, but I still have to strain a little to talk.  Some think that's good because I won't talk so much.  After a year post transplant, they will decide if they need to do another operation for my vocal chords.    I can't complain, I'm in a much better place than I was before the transplant.  Remember every DAY is a gift, open it up and share it with others.

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.