Enjoying The Home Life

We finally made it home on Sat. Dec. 4th. It was a looong drive, but we made it in 10 1/2 hrs. We only stopped twice and drove straight through. It wasn't a bad ride, it just took forever, lol. We arrived very early in the morning, but mama had been saying how she felt like a kid waiting for Christmas, referring to us coming home. I went to their house and woke them up. I went to mama and whispered, "Merry Christmas" and she said "Oh my baby's home". She reached over and shook daddy and said "Our baby is home" and he about jumped straight up out of the bed. Mama's specialty is cooking and she offered to cook breakfast at 5:30 in the morning, but I told her to go back to sleep and we would eat later. We had brunch later in the morning. It was great to be back with my family!

I had a bronch on the day we left which was before the results came in. The reason for leaving before we got the results was that my dad was having surgery for prostate cancer the following week and I intended to be there. I had even re-scheduled my appointments so we could leave earlier than planned. Daddy's surgery went well and he is recovering at home, doing better everyday. He won't have to take chemo or radiation because the whole prostate was removed and not just the cancer itself. My family has truly been blessed. Even with all the things that have happened to us, it could always be worse.

I worry about my friend Jess and the suffering she is enduring now. She is currently in the hospital at Duke. She has had Gastro problems since her lung transplant back in April. It makes it a total bummer because it's right at Christmas. I hope she gets out of the hospital before then. I miss you Jess! Love You Cysta!

Being at home has been wonderful. After six months away from home makes me feel like my new home is brand new all over again. The results from my last bronch had no rejection so I don't have to go back to Duke till Jan 20th. I get to enjoy the holidays with my family. A week after getting back home we got a new puppy. We named her Niki, she's a solid black Shih-Tzu. She is a little chomper. She loves to chew on everything she can get her little teeth on, but she's also a cute little fur ball that I can't resist. I still get sad thinking of the two little dogs we had to give away back when I was so sick with bad lungs. I found out later, after transplant, that I can have an inside dog I just have to be careful about certain things. I can handle that. I like having a furry companion because when Philip goes back to work I certainly won't get bored with my four-legged friend, lol!

I was invited to a Christmas Luncheon today from the office that I used to work at. It was really nice to still be considered a part of the work family. I used to sell Avon so when I quit working there I still came by to deliver Avon and visit with everyone. They have all kept up with my transplant process and some of the ladies had a fundraiser for me. They are now in the process of doing another fundraiser for me. They are awesome ladies and I am Thankful to have them as my friends.

Well, that's all I've got to report for now. I'll post again soon. Love To All!

Time Is Standing Still

I know we are going home to MS today and I have been up since 3:30am in anticipation of it I suppose. I'm like a little kid waiting for Christmas morning. It's just not getting here fast enough, lol. It's six o'clock now so I mananged to waste away part of the time. I can't eat anything because of the bronch so I'll just compute and watch tv. Philip is asleep. I mention that because he has had his days and nights mixed up. He usually stays up till 4am or later then sleeps most of the day. That will come in handy when he's driving us home tonite. We are driving straight through. A 12hr drive. Road Trip! I'm game. If it will get me to my home, I would ride 24hrs straight. I would plan to help drive, but my license expired back in October and I don't want to risk going to jail instead of making it home to MS, lol. Note to self: Get license renewed ASAP. I still can't believe today is the day!!! Come on Friday evening!

Going Home

Praise The Lord my time has come. I am finally getting to go home to Mississippi tomorrow! I am sooo excited. I didn't want to make it public until after my clinic visit today. Please pray that the bronch I'm having tomorrow doesn't show rejection because that would mean I would have to come right back up here and be admitted to the hospital for another round of ivs. The main reason for wanting to get home is my Daddy was diagnosed with prostate cancer and he is having surgery next week. Please pray that everything goes well. I may have to come back up here next week or the next, but I'm going to be home for his surgery. If I'm not showing rejection, I won't have to come back for at least 4 weeks. I haven't earned my 3 months yet because of past rejection. I have to have 2 clean bronchs before I can stop coming once a month. It's better to be safe than sorry I always say! It's only a 13hr drive, lol! I haven't been home since June! Six months is a long time to be away from family and friends. Please pray for our safe travel tomorrow. I'll update as soon as I get settled back into my own surroundings!!! Did I mention I'm excited!

Did I Mention I'm Ready To Go Home?

I like staying here in Durham, NC, but I am sooo ready for the next three weeks to be up. I am praying hard that we will get to head out to MS this time. I am trying to take it easy with my exercising and just general moving around. I certainly do not want to fracture any more bones, lol! It's ridiculous how many little setbacks I've had. Now enough is enough. I've made the joke that if we have to go home on Christmas Eve and come back up here Christmas Day, I WILL be home for Christmas! I don't expect that to happen, but with my track record of things going wrong who knows what might happen?

On another note: I'm still loving my hair. I've had it cut like this before, but being able to breathe now makes it even easier to fix than before. I was excited the other day when I was getting ready to meet a friend and I took a shower, washed my hair, put on makeup, fixed my hair, and got dressed all in 45 minutes! That is awesome! It used to take me at least 2 hrs to get ready to go somewhere with all the rests I would have to take. Oh, and there wasn't any washing hair and showering at the same time or I would have been too tired to finish getting ready to go anywhere. I love my life now. I can't wait to get back to my "normal" life back home and really know what I can accomplish with my new breathers. They are awesome! I'm planning to eat at Red Lobster tomorrow. I'm having cravings for seafood and I know Red Lobster is good so don't give me grief about finding a new seafood place while we're here. I'm a little bit of a comfort zone type person when it comes to food :-)

I want to thank my donor and I continue to pray for my donor's family. Love To All!

I Wanna Go Home! A Rant

As much as I've loved having the opportunity for a new life and being able to breathe freely, I am coming to the point that I am ready to go home to Mississippi. I miss my family, friends, and my life. My life has been on hold all year long with transplant, rejections, fractures, doctor visits, and just being away from my home. I don't want this post to be a pitty party of sorts, but I am a bit down in the dumps tonight. I try to stay upbeat and a trooper, but even the strongest have weak points and I am reaching mine. I just get so tired of thinking "just a couple more weeks" and I'll be able to go home, then something else falls apart. I know it could be a lot worse, but to me it is getting to be bad enough to weigh on my mind. I am blessed I know this, but I can't help my feelings. It doesn't help that I've been in the hospital for a week now and I hope to heck to go home to the hotel tomorrow. At least back to the hotel at this point will be tolerable. I can't stand it in here much longer. I am going stir crazy and I have lost almost all the strength I had gained on top of it all. It doesn't take long to lose what you gained when you are layed up in a hospital. Besides I was already weak from not being able to walk on my fractured hip for two weeks. GRRRR!!! Okay, I'm finished ranting now. Only better days tomorrow. I won't give up hope :) Love To All!

One More Step Toward Home

Monday I had a dr appt to meet with my surgeon about my wound vac I've been carrying around with me since the beginning of August. In case you don't know, it was for a fluid filled pocket that burst and then wouldn't quit draining. The wound vac helped the place to heal from the inside out and it only took two months!(can you hear the sarcasm.) Well, it is finally healed! No more wound vac, woo hoo! I look at it as one more step to getting back home. The only thing left is my bronch and my dr visit both are at the end of the month. Right now I am dealing with my left leg/groin area. Apparently, I sprained a muscle last week and it has not gotten any better. I skipped rehab several days because of the pain I was in. I have a pronounced limp because of the pain when I walk. I broke down this morning and called my tx coordinator and got an appt with my doc. I got xrays, but haven't heard anything from it yet. She wanted to rule out a fracture because taking steroids makes bones more susceptible to fractures/breaks. I did get some pain meds along with the xray. I took some and even though after taking it the pain didn't really go away, I just really didn't mind it so much, lol. Everytime I get on the right path something else seems to fall apart. I'm still staying hopeful that it isn't anything that is going to keep me from going home soon!!!! I'll keep you posted........

Happy Week

It's been a good week for me. I will be finished with iv meds as of tonight, woo hoo! I've still got the wound vac on, but I hope to get rid of it Monday when I see the doc again. It is almost healed. Also, when I have my bronch on the 26th if it comes back clear, the doc will take out my hickman (the line in my chest to take iv meds). I'm getting closer to going home. I'm trying not to get too excited because it seems like something always happens. I'm just keeping my faith and looking forward to getting back home! I can't think about what "might" happen. I'm still taking it one day at a time and letting The Lord guide me. :)

I've met some more new people here for their evaluation for lungs. I think back to when I was in their shoes and how far I have come in just 3 months. I think about my donor and their family everyday. It was such a selfless act to give someone else a chance at life. I hope to find out about my donor someday. I have yet to write a letter to the family, but I will. I may never hear from them, but I want them to know how much I appreciate what they did. I feel I wouldn't be here today had I not gotten a lung transplant. I Thank God for His Love and Miracles! God Is Great!

I Wanna Go Home

Tomorrow will be my 8th week post transplant. I'm doing great physically, but mentally I am missing home soooo bad. I know I'm on the downhill slide from here, but you know how you feel after being sick and you start to feel back to normal? I feel better than normal. I'm feeling good and am ready to get back to my life! I like Durham, but even if we were here on vacation I would have been ready to go home long before now, lol!

Another bummer to my phychie is the fact that I am still on IV's and two different nebulizer treatments. The fun part is that I get to wear a mask instead of the mouthpiece so I can inhale it through my nose, ha ha, not fun. My sinuses are where the "bugs" are now, but thank the Lord my lungs are clear. Got to keep the bugs out of the lungs!!! Must get rid of them!!The picture above shows me with my combat gear. I just had grand visions before tx that afterward I wouldn't have to worry with iv's and nebulizers every day! I know some people have to use them for a month or so after tx, but mine is going till October 1st. I know that for sure. The one phrase I repeat to myself when I get in this mood is, "I Can Breathe!" That is always the main concern.....Love To All

I Miss My Baby Dog

I looked at pictures of my Doberman, Diamond today and just started crying. I don't really know why because she is staying with a friend and is being taken care of. I just miss her. I havent' seen her since the beginning of May. She may not even remember me anymore when I get home. We've had her since she was 6wks old. She has never known anyone to take care of her but me and Philip. She's old now. She was 10yrs old back on Aprul 3rd. When I got sick, I felt so guilty because I wasn't able to go outside with her because of the heat. She doesn't do well inside because she wants to sit in my lap like she did when she was a puppy, lol. She does sleep in the house at night. She has "Diamond's House". Most of her life my daily ritual was to go outside with her and brush her, pet her, just love on her. She expected it and would bark this high pitched bark that would indicate to me "come outside mama". As time went on and I didn't go outside anymore she finally stopped expecting me. I was feeling like a failure to my family. Not only Diamond, but the rest of my family. I wasn't able to contribute anything, not even to our family pet. When we get home I am planning on getting her back. I think Philip was planning on giving her away permenately, but I just can't do it. I'm the only mama she's ever known and she loves me more than herself for sure. I can't abandon her. She's my baby! I'll be able to take care of her again and we can even start an exercise ritual now that I can breathe! I Love My Diamond Girl and I can't wait to see her! I know this has nothing to do with how I am physically, but I just had her on my mind and needed to vent. Thanks for listening.