I Made Lemonade

We all know the saying.... When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Since my transplant, I have done just that. Instead of making myself the victim of the situation I have used my transplant to make my life better. My lemonade just got sweeter ... I am starting a new chapter of my life ... I have landed my dream job!!

I will be working with my local OPO- Organ Procurement Organization as a Hospital Services Coordinator. I will be working with local hospitals to develop and promote a pro donation culture and increase organ donation. When  I resigned from my Bank career it was one of the hardest decisions of my life. I wasn't sure what my next chapter of life would entail but knew I would return to work when the right job presented itself and this is the right job, I am so excited!!!

An odd obsession

My last blog entry confirmed my life was great. I lied a little... it was missing the ability to accomplish a sit up. A sit up is an easy task for most people but it was something that I haven't been able to do since my transplant. During my surgery my abdominal muscles were cut and I lost all feeling in that area. I have been working on my core strength daily for the last 5 months but still was not able to do a sit up. I asked Dr. Guy during my last appointment if I would ever regain strength and she had no idea... I was the first patient to obsess over doing one. I know its a weird thing to obsess over especially since I can't remember the last time I did a sit up before my transplant.

Well folks.... CHECK THIS OUT!

                                                        I CAN DO SIT UPS!!!

I bet you are asking why I am not in gym clothes? This was taken at a photo shoot for Blood Source, they are using me on their promotional items.... I am hoping for the blood mobile! ( don't worry...not these pictures, LOL) I was so excited that I was telling them about my sit up so she took a picture so I can use it on my blog. 

I wonder what my next obsession will be now that I have accomplished a sit up! Stay tuned!  

TWO YEARS!!!

Today is a VERY special day. It marks 731 extra days of life. That's right folks.... today is my two year Liverversary!

At one point I didn't think I would live and extra year so to be able to celebrate two years is truly a huge accomplishment. My one year anniversary proved I was a survivor and that I made it past the most critical year post transplant. This two year anniversary proved that I have a long life ahead of me and will create new memories for years to come. I no longer consider myself as "the sick transplant patient". I am now "the girl who had a transplant and has a better life because of it." I never understood how people go through horrible things and later say that they wouldn't change a thing. But now I am that person. My life is so much better than it was before transplant. I wake up each day so thankful for what I have. My friends and family are now more important than they ever were. I have met some wonderful people through this experience and some crazy ones too! I still have some bad days but the good far outweigh the bad. It has taken me and my body awhile to adjust to this new life but I have never been happier and I wouldn't change a thing!

I wish I could some how express how grateful I am to my donor and all the donor families out there. Words just cannot do justice. Thank you from the bottom of my heart and soul. I do my best to honor my donor each and everyday.


PS... Just because I am no longer the sick transplant patient does not mean I no longer accept gifts to celebrate my extra years/months of life. Presents are always welcome!

PPS... I had my two year checkup at CPMC and I am healthy as a horse! I love my new doctor and my liver is doing great. I brought the ICU nurses, Doctors and staff baskets of treats to celebrate the big day.  Here are some pictures of me and Tania, the NP that helped save my life. The picture of the left was a month after transplant and the one on the right was last Thursday. I laugh looking at the picture on the left... I thought I looked great back then! HA... I was as grey as my shirt! So glad to have my normal skin color back!

Happy Thanksgiving!

So much to be Thankful this year! I continue to be blessed with good health, a wonderful husband and family, and great friends. I am most thankful for the gift of life my donor gave me and each day I wake up knowing how lucky I am.

Thanksgiving means more to me now than it ever has. Thanksgiving 2010 was the first day I felt really sick and marks the first day of my liver failing. Thanksgiving 2011 was better, I was alive but truthfully I was still in survival mode and still was adapting to my new life. This Thanksgiving I can honestly say I am loving life and count my blessings each and every day.

                                                              Happy Thanksgiving!

Ignorance is Bliss

When I "retired" from my job, I was added to Joe's insurance. We went from a PPO to an HMO to save money. With that change I now do my lab tests at Mercy versus Quest and I couldn't be happier. (This is the only positive thing about the HMO and we will be changing to a PPO ASAP) The lab is much nicer, less busy, doesn't smell like smoke but best of all, they DO NOT send me my test results. At first, I hated it and kept calling my transplant nurse for the results but as time has passed I have started enjoying not knowing. You may be asking why and tell me that I need to be proactive in my healthcare but truthfully I was neurotic with my results. I would review them for hours (OK, not really but I needed to sound dramatic) and compare them to previous results. If there was any change I would worry endlessly and call my transplant nurse to make sure she saw them. Now my nurse sends me a letter and let's me know my results are stable. I would prefer her to use the perfect over stable but it's a pre printed form so will let that slide... for now. I have so much faith in my three Doctors and nurse who are copied on the results and I know they will call if something is wrong. If not, Joe will tell me my eyes are yellow!

Below is a picture of me and my Transplant Hepatoligist, Dr Bzowej. She is moving to New Orleans and this was my last visit with her. I will miss her dearly since she was with me at my worst and was the one to list me for my transplant. 

This is my first update in a long time and not even sure if people still read this. No real reason why I haven't been updating but my plan is to update more. It may not be about my health since it's stable perfect but with other fun stuff going on in my life.

Sign up to be an organ donor at Donate Life www.donatelife.net 

Retired Life

Well, it's official. I am no longer employed.  My last day of work was harder than I thought, not sure what I was expecting but didn't think it would hit me as hard as it did. My sadness quickly went away on Sunday as  my normal Sunday night anxiety was non-existent. My first couple of weeks not working have been WONDERFUL! I have been filling the time with the gym, farmers market, cooking, volunteering and gardening.When I feel tired I take a nap rather than push through the exhaustion.

Health wise, I am good! It looks like my white blood cells may have finally accepted the anti-rejection drugs. I haven't given myself a neupogen injection in 7 weeks and my counts have been in normal range. If they remain consistent in my next blood test, I will only need to do labs once a month! It feels so weird being a normal transplant patient rather than the high maintenance one that I normally am. I have gone from speaking to my transplant nurse a couple times a months versus a couple times a week! I am sure I just jinxed myself and something will go wrong but until then, I will think I am normal:)

I've been attending lots of seminars in my retirement.  They're called naps.  ~Merri Brownworth

The End of an Era

Life is all about choices.  This transplant has made me make choices that I never thought I would ever have to make.....Choices that have a direct impact on the quality of the life I will live.

After being back at work for four months, I have made the choice to resign from my job. It was a very hard decision to make but one that was needed to be done for me. I worked at my Company for 15 years and the job that I am leaving is the job I was perfect for, the job I loved the most, the job I worked my ass off to get promoted to and the job I will forever be sad to leave. So many emotions are running through my mind....I feel like a quitter especially after my work stuck with me while I was sick and during my recovery. I know I have their full support but still have some guilt about leaving even though I know it will be the best for my health, life and family.

I am sure you are asking why I am leaving? The answer is simple, it was the perfect job for me in my previous life, before my transplant. I was so eager to return to work to prove that I can resume my normal life but after some serious thought I have accepted that I am not the same person who I was before. 

So what is next? My last day is May 11th and the rest is To Be Determined!  


"Don't be afraid your life will end; be afraid that it will never begin."
~Grace Hansen

A Maui trip and Clinic Visit

We had a great trip to Maui and I survived my first airplane trip without getting sick! I decided to wear a mask on the way there just to be safe. It was five hours of annoyance so I didn't wear it on the flight back home. On the way home, there was a lady a row over coughing her lungs up and I thought I would for sure get sick but my immune system did well and I was fine! We spent five days in Maui and I enjoyed every second. We went whale watching, I had a massage and best of all, I ate really yummy food the entire trip. I am sure I gained at least 10 pounds! We were super busy the entire trip and stayed up late every night and by the last night, I was exhausted. I joked to Joe that I needed a vacation from our vacation!

Last week I had a clinic visit and saw Dr. Bzowej. It was a good visit but not a perfect one like my last couple of visits. My ALT number( a liver test) has doubled and while it's within normal range, it's something that we will need to keep a close eye on to make sure it doesn't rise any higher. She didn't seem to worried but the perfectionist in me isn't happy with that news. My WBC seems to be less dramatic so we are decreasing my neupogen shots again. Hopefully my WBC will cooperate and I can slowly be weaned off those shots. I don't mind giving myself injections but the side effects SUCK so I am very happy we trying again to reduce them.

No news is GOOD NEWS!

I don't have much to update which means everything is going good! I am back into my old routine at work and still feeling great. I am still doing blood draws twice a month and Nurse Karen called with results from my last test and my liver counts were perfect! One of my anti-rejection counts was a little low so she will keep an eye on that but she wasn't to worried since my liver was happy. I have a standing lab order so I can go to the lab whenever I want so I went on a Friday vs my normal Monday to play a trick on my WBC. I give myself the neupogen injections Friday night so I wanted to see what my count would be Friday morning of the following week and they were not low! Maybe my WBC is over being so dramatic and finally behaving???

I see Dr. Bzowej on March 9th so hopefully she will reduce the neupogen injections to every other week. They do the job of keeping my WBC count normal but the side effects SUCK!!! Imagine your bones feeling like they are exploding and that is what I feel every Saturday.

We leave for Maui on Monday!! It will be interesting to go on a tropical vacation and not being able to be in the sun but regardless, I know we will have a great time! I will share some pictures when I get back!

ALOHA! 

Four weeks down... a lifetime to go!

Everyday for the last four weeks, my coworkers have been asking how I am doing. My response is always the same.... "I keep coming back so I must be doing good.'

I am AMAZED on how well I am doing being back at work. Truthfully, I was terrified to return to work. Imagine the anxiety you feel returning to work after a two week vacation and multiply that by 100. I was scared I would be tired, scared I lost some brain function, scared that I lost my work ethic. Well, I was scared for no reason at all and it's like I never left. I have more energy now than I did when I wasn't working. I have decided that being lazy just makes you more lazy. I am back working 10 hour days and I am loving every second of it. Ok, I am lying... I do not like my alarm going off at 5:30am......!

The most gratifying part of being back at work is that I do not have time to think of myself as a transplant patient. I take my pills throughout the day but at no other time do I feel like I was ever sick. I am being cautious and being a germ freak but other than spraying Lysol a couple of times a day... I AM BACK TO MY NORMAL LIFE!!!!

We leave for Maui in 21 days and I am so excited! After working for 7 weeks, I need a vacation! LOL.... just kidding. Joe won Manager of the Year and we were suppose to go on this trip last year but I decided to mess up those plans by almost dying so his work is letting us go this year!