5k Speed, almost

Wow. Been a crazy eight months. Yep you heard that right -- 8 months.
8 months since a young man in Miami passed away, and by his selfless gift he saved my life. It still is almost unbelievable some times. The idea that my lungs are not my lungs. That part of me is not ME. And that my body works better without ME in it. Weird. Does that make sense?

I dunno. Don't guess it really needs to.

More news on my bionic body :: she dragged her ever-growing ass across the finish line of her very first 5k post transplant this past weekend - The Gr8 to Don8 Organ Donation 8k/5k. Well, it was really the first in about 11 years, so lets just say it wasn't the most exciting run, nor the prettiest, but it was 3.1 miles and I ran (almost) all of it. I crossed the finish line with a mildly embarrassing 48min (pretty sure it was somewhere between 45-48, I didn't look until i had already crossed and remembered they had a big clock posted for time) 5k speed. A far cry from the 20min 5ks from high school, but what can you do.


Organ Recipient 5k run number - 64! (Square root? = 8!)


Official run tshirt!


Runnin the track during the last .1 of the race

I realized half way through the run why I felt so sluggish opposed to the memories of how it used to feel when I ran. Aside from the obvious lack of muscle tone (its a work in progress people), I am enormous. Yup, officially hit the 152lb mark. Through the run I was VIVIDLY aware of the constant jiggle coming from a mysterious place behind me, one that I have never been aware of before. It was my ass. Its finally happened. I have an ass. Don't get too excited, we aren't talkin about a JLo booty...just one that fills in the seat of my jeans. No more frog/old man butt for me! But it has been quite an adjustment. There is just so MUCH of me. I mean, Im not FAT - but it definitely feels that way! I am OVER 30lbs heavier than I was the day of my transplant, and I have NEVER been this heavy in all my life. Learning how to maneuver this weighty body has been a strange, but welcome sensation. Except when I learned that it was partly to blame for the slow go through the neighborhood during the race...

At any rate. I ran. And it was pretty stellar. My donor lungs and my body worked pretty well together. I wasn't breathless at all, so that was pretty fantastic...and thinkin about my donor during that run made me more thankful than ever that he decided to donate his organs and that I was the lucky one to receive them. These bad boys are the real deal!

April is organ donation awareness month. By choosing to donate your organs when you pass you can potentially save the lives of eight people, not to mention the healing of many more through tissue and tendon donation. Be someone's hero and sign up to donate your organs! Learn more at www.donatelife.net or by reading the organ donation/transplantation section of this blog. Even if you don't think your organs would be accepted for one reason or the other - sign up anyway! You never know what can be used. Id love to hear from those who are donors - new donors and previous donors!



8 months, 8 lives that can saved through one organ donor, race number 64 (8x8), today is April 8.... I like 8s. 8 is a good number.... :)

Thanks again for all the continuous support! Remember to recycle your parts! :)

Much love...
Erin

SIX MONTHS....

So its been a while since my last post and I apologize. But I mean come on -- did you really think I was gonna be sitting around my computer when I can get out and LIVE now?

Unlikely.

Don't worry though peeps, I haven't forgotten you. With that in mind I invite you to celebrate with me

SIX MONTHS POST TRANSPLANT.

Yup, that's where I am at today. I honestly forgot about it. My six month anniversary was actually yesterday. But me being the incredibly busy and oh-so-important person that I am was too busy to think about it. Then when I remembered I felt like a total shmuck. *SIGH*

How in the WORLD did I not even think about that yesterday? I thought about it a few days ago. So why in the world that on the DAY that marked 6 months on a completely new life did I go the entire day without even mentioning it or anything?? Geez...

Oh well, nothing I can do about that now. Other than celebrate it today, and I think that'll work. I mean I was TECHNICALLY not breathing on my own until the first anyway...sooo yeah, we'll go with that.

But I digress.

So, you may have seen if you follow me on FB that 2 weeks ago I had my 6 month follow up appointment at Mayo. I was honestly terrified. It have been three months since my last bronch, xray, PFT, etc. But, luckily, after all the usual mess, plus an MRI of the abdomen (checkin on my liver), everything came back and I am HEALTHY AS A HORSE!! :) Blood work looked great, Xrays were clear, MRI of the liver showed no change, PFTs were up to 111% and my bronch showed NO INFECTION and NO REJECTION!!

Relief...sweet relief.

I mean, I do a lot of vital stat taking, monitoring of my spirometry levels and such everyday. Plus blood work once a month. So you'd think that if there was anything going on I would have a vague inclination right? Well, that's the idea with all that monitoring atleast, but I mean lets be honest - I'm freaking paranoid, and not exactly the most optimistic person in the world. In short -

I'm waitin on the hammer to fall. For the shit to hit the fan. For everything to go to hell in a hand bag....whatever little phrase you associate with everything falling swiftly and completely to crap.

I try not to. And usually I do a decent job. But atleast once a day I feel a little pain in my back or chest, have a tickle in my throat or just feel odd. Aparently these things are all normal and a part of the healing process. But still. I don't like it. It freaks me out and I immediately wanna go to the doctor and have them do a full work up to make sure I'm ok.

I am a basket case, I swear.

But that's just part of this I guess...and I knew it would be. And trust me, I wouldn't change it for anything in the world. Just something else to get used to I reckon.

Aside from all that though, things are going pretty smoothly. I am workin on getting ready for my very first 5K race in over 10 years. Yup that is happening like next week. Needless to say I will likely be WALKING most of that, but I mean hey - walking 3.1 miles is HUGE compared to what I was able to do...which was little more than a walk to the bathroom. So, I'll take it.

I am also planning on 2 more 5Ks this year (maybe more, who knows) -- one in April, one sometime in the fall. So I am hoping that by the last one of this year I will be running most if not all of it -- and not like a pathetic run. Like a semi-respectable run.We shall see I guess...

I'd like to take this opporutnity to send up a big THANK YOU to my donor. Thank you so much for taking such good care of these bad boys. They are amazing. My life is amazing. I am so glad you were my donor -- whoever you are...

So here's to a new year, new lungs, new health and new adventures..... I'm ready. BRING IT ON. :)