I finally met a living breathing person who had a double lung transplant! He attends my church and had his transplant at U of W! This person also is a patient at the office I work at. How about that for a coincidence? Since I don't believe in coincidences I know it is God.
After doing so much research on lung transplants and survival rates, it is easy to feel dismal about my future. I've wanted to meet an actual person who had a lung transplant for a long time. Spectrum was suppose to arrange this but never did-they have a long way to go before they are a well oiled machine like Wisconsin. But I won't get into that now.
My pastor arranged for Randy to reach out to me and after some emails we arranged a face to face meeting today after service.
Randy was a pleasant gentleman and you would never know he had a lung transplant (kinda how I don't appear as ill as I am), how reassuring! I got to hear his story, he is still working full time and is 8 yrs out from transplant. He had pulmonary fibrosis that eventually led to his transplant. He was only give 1 wk to live before his transplant! He has had some setbacks in the last 8yrs but ultimately he says he feels great and encourages staying active.
I have so many scary statistics and facts about lung transplantation that it has been discouraging to say the least. I now have a positive statistic in my mind who happens to attend my church.
God works in mysterious ways.
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Sunday, January 12, 2014
A new year...
Happy 2014! Time continues to move forward whether we're ready for it to or not. Sometimes don't you wish there was a stop button?
I can't say I will miss 2013 --there was a lot of anxiety and unknowns that I won't miss. My son started kindergarten and loves it so that is a huge positive. I can't believe he's reading! When I went to kindergarten for a 1/2 day (he goes all day), I remember letter people and playing dress up--times have DEFINITELY changed.
Some goals for 2014: 1. I want to continue to promote organ donation and hope to get in some local libraries and spread the word about organ donation. There are many myths out there that need to be dispelled. To anyone reading this, what are some things about organ donation you don't understand or have questions about?
2. I want to try and up my exercise regimen and walk or ride a bike 4-5x/week. When you are unable to do something to full capacity it is discouraging and I hate how short of breath I become in a short time. I have to stay strong, I will continue pilates/body barre twice a week. I hope that some of my mat neighbors in those classes don't notice my sweat and increased breaths. But then again, oh well if they do-they don't know my story.
3. We're going to get a dog --mostly for my son. He wants a brother and I can't give that to him. This is heart breaking and a whole blog on its own. I haven't been able to write it because its too painful. We have to get a hypoallergenic dog so we've decided on a schnoodle (schnauzer/poodle mix). Eric will have a at home best friend. I also have a thing about hair so this is big for me and nice to know that this breed doesn't shed much.
4. Stay healthy as possible, my most recent lung function testing done last Thursday revealed my lung function at 26%, it was 28%. We'll see what this year holds for my lungs.
Just gotta keep on keeping on.
I can't say I will miss 2013 --there was a lot of anxiety and unknowns that I won't miss. My son started kindergarten and loves it so that is a huge positive. I can't believe he's reading! When I went to kindergarten for a 1/2 day (he goes all day), I remember letter people and playing dress up--times have DEFINITELY changed.
Some goals for 2014: 1. I want to continue to promote organ donation and hope to get in some local libraries and spread the word about organ donation. There are many myths out there that need to be dispelled. To anyone reading this, what are some things about organ donation you don't understand or have questions about?
2. I want to try and up my exercise regimen and walk or ride a bike 4-5x/week. When you are unable to do something to full capacity it is discouraging and I hate how short of breath I become in a short time. I have to stay strong, I will continue pilates/body barre twice a week. I hope that some of my mat neighbors in those classes don't notice my sweat and increased breaths. But then again, oh well if they do-they don't know my story.
3. We're going to get a dog --mostly for my son. He wants a brother and I can't give that to him. This is heart breaking and a whole blog on its own. I haven't been able to write it because its too painful. We have to get a hypoallergenic dog so we've decided on a schnoodle (schnauzer/poodle mix). Eric will have a at home best friend. I also have a thing about hair so this is big for me and nice to know that this breed doesn't shed much.
4. Stay healthy as possible, my most recent lung function testing done last Thursday revealed my lung function at 26%, it was 28%. We'll see what this year holds for my lungs.
Just gotta keep on keeping on.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)