Duke Transplant Friends

March 13 2006!

Wow I can't believe 1year has passed already!
I am so THANKFUL and HAPPY to have made it this far. I couldn't have done it without God or my family or friends or everyone at the Ronald MacDonald House; Or without everyone's prayers.
Making it to 1 year out is a BIG step you take after transplant. It means you've overcome a lot of obstacles but there are still many more to come. I have gotten to meet a lot of people who had a transplant while I was up there and some who had theirs before I got there. There were a lot of people who didn't make it and quite a few of us who did. Of the ones who didn't, some of them had a lot of complications and some were fine one day and really sick the next and died soon after. Some of the others had such a rough time and were in the hospital for so long before God took them home. I know some people who have had their transplants who take everything that has happened to them for granted. Such as since having had the transplant and they don't want to do anything ... they just think they are lucky...

LET THIS BE YOUR WAKE_UP CALL SINCE THE TRANSPLANT WASN'T!!!

I am so thankful to have made it this far; and I hope I never have to go through another transplant again. If I am ever told I need to have another again I honestly don't know if I would say YES to going through it again or NO. Going through it all again would be really hard. I think it would be harder than the first time ... because I have been there and done that. But I will always choose LIFE.

I was in the hospital for almost 1 month after my transplant. I was in ICU for 12 days and then in step-down for a while. Then I got out and went back in for a couple of days. After that I had to go back in for I think like a week to get fluid that was around my new lungs drained by more chest tubes.

I dont actually remember very much from the ICU. I remember my Mom being there all the time when I woke up... I remember Steve being there some but I don't remember everyone who came to see me and I was told about it later. And I remember the docs being there. I remember I had lots and lots of pillows<virtually unheard of in the ICU, I guess I rated...>...

And....I remember the physical therapist David getting me up to walk. I am so HAPPY and THANKFUL now that he did make me walk so much. But at the time I was MAD that I had to get up; I wasn't happy at all. BUT he did warn me that he was going to do it and I LOVE HIM FOR IT! I remember one day momma was in the ICU waiting room and he came and got me up to walk. He said lets walk to your Mom and surprise her. So I walked all the way there from my bed to the waiting room. I had to stop a lot and sit but he would get me back up after about a minute or two. The waiting room was full of people waiting to go in and see people but everyone was happy to see me there. And I remember one day while I was walking...I want to say it was Katie, TJ, Mrs Tina and Mr. Tony who came and I walked to where they were in the waiting room.

I remember that when I finally woke up after transplant I had hiccups for 3 days straight.
OOH and the first time I burped and yawned those were the coolest things ever. It felt so weird; but it was the coolest feelings. The first time I burped; I was like whoa that was weird.....

While I was waiting for and after getting my transplant I stayed at the Ronald MacDonald House. I got to live there for 9 months. They became part of my family and so did everyone I met there. The Ronald MacDonald House really helped because when I was missing being here at home with my brothers and sisters and I could just get out of my room and talk to other people, play cards or visit and work on my jewelry. Whether it was a volunteer or someone on the staff or one of the kids or adults staying there; there was always someone to talk to. Something to do and someone elses day to talk about.

After my transplant I did physical therapy 5 days a week for 4 hours a day. In physical therapy I lifted weights and had a floor class and had to ride a stationary bike and walk. The only days I didn't go to physical therapy were when I had clinic. Sometimes I went once a week to clinic and sometimes once every other week. They want us to go for 23 physical therapy visits after our transplant . But I went the whole time I was up in Durham.
I know I have to keep it up for the rest of my life, and I will!

When I finally got the OK to go home in August. And I was so happy to be going home to see my dog, and all my friends and of course I got to see all my family again; but I missed my dog Lacey the most. I've been home now for 7 months. I have made a lot of trips back to Duke for clinic and bronch biopsy's.

I now have a baby pot belly pig and 2 puppies...<try talking the transplant docs into those options!> and its a good thing because as my older brothers and sisters had moved out; with some of them working and some getting married ... and it keeps me from missing them too much. Oh yeah and I still have a little brother and sister at home with me but its just not the same as all of us being here together. Of course my grandma makes up for me not having been home for 9 months but that's OK too.

I am going to put some of my transplant pictures and before and after pictures with this.
Some of the pictures show me on the vent and with all my tubes so if you get grossed out easily just DON'T LOOK!
I love you all, my family, my friends, my docs, my nurses, my physical therapists and everyone who helped me get through all of this. THANK YOU. I keep all of you in my prayers every day.

As an update for now... I have had some rejection issues just within the past few weeks and am on IV drugs. But. I feel good and am working on staying well.

Love ~MABEL ::: alias::: MapelSyrup or Maybell*