I'll Be "Home" For Christmas

Dear friends,

I have wonderful news, it sounds like I will be discharged tomorrow and will be back at the apartment for Christmas. This is more than I ever could have hoped for, I have been granted one miracle after another in these last few weeks, God is SO GOOD!

I will have my first bronchoscope tomorrow which will indicate whether or not my new lungs are experiencing any rejection, please pray that the results come back free of rejection.

I have had a busy day today. I was taken to walk up and down my first flight of stairs, which I was terrified about, but did great. This afternoon I attended a Post-Transplant class that discussed what life will be like once I leave the hospital. I'll have to take a picture of all of the medications I will be taking, it usually takes me two cartons of milk to get them all down and I am an expert pill swallower already. We will be picking up all of these new drugs tomorrow and I dread seeing how much that is going to cost monthly!

Let me share a little of what I learned with you. Above I posted the things I will need to avoid post-transplant since some of them will involve all of you.

In the next three months I will be having bloodwork drawn weekly to monitor my immunosuppression drug levels, kidney functions, liver functions, blood sugars, white and red blood counts.

I will return next week to see the surgeons and have my many incisions looked at. I will also need to see Dr. Pilewski regularly. I will have period bronchoscopes to watch for rejection. I will continue on IV antibiotics for a couple more weeks.

The major concern, however, is going to be maintaining my health. I will need to work hard to build back all of the muscles I have lost over the last couple of years. I will not be able to lift more than 10 lbs for the first 3 months and will be unable to drive for at least 6 weeks. I will need to continue to work on weight gain. I will have to be very cautious about being exposed to illness and germs. Everywhere I go I will need to keep my hands sanitized. I will no longer be able to drink from drinking fountains (not that I did before either), when I go to a restaurant I will need to wash my hands after reading the menu (menus can be dirty and germ covered), I will need to avoid shaking hands, hugging, and kissing non-family members, and of course any contact with public property (grocery cart handles, door nobs, etc) needs to be monitored and sanitized as best as possible.

At the end of the meeting we were offered the opportunity to purchase a special card to have sent to the donor's family. Though I can't tell them my name or any identifying information, I can write to them and let them know how thankful I am for the wonderful gift they chose to give to me. I plan to spend some quiet time when I get back to the apartment to try to find the words to express my sadness for the loss, yet deep appreciation for the new life I have been given.

Okay, I am wearing myself right out, so I need to stop for now. Maybe the next time I post it will be from "home".

Love to you all! Nancy