Poster child of Lung transplant

Well folks, you're officially reading the blog of a 4 month post transplant patient. One who was referred to as "the poster child for lung transplant" (I tried not to be offended by the "child" part lol) by her Mayo docs yesterday. Went to mayo and they are super happy with my progress, which makes me super happy! They let me finally get a FLU SHOT which I was sorta freakin out about. They wouldn't let me get one at first because of the possible complications of introducing a virus into my newly suppressed immune system. But, since I am doing so well, they went ahead and allowed me to get one. So, THANK THE LORD for that! I was freakin about about rollin into flu season with new lungs, no immune system and sick people everywhere. But atleast I'm protected from the flu, and my pneumonia shot is still good (got it last year - lasts 5 years) so hopefully I'll avoid anything super cray cray. Oh, and lung function is the highest it's been, so in the words of my beloved Phil Robertson, I'm "happy, happy, happy."

Speaking of Mr. Robertson - does anyone out there LOVE Duck Dynasty the way I do? These people -- well, lets just say, these are my people. They have beards, they are funny and they kill birds. What's not to love?? And I promise, Ol Si is my Chris in 30 years. It's crazy the similarities between them. I'm serious, it's like looking into the future watch that crazy ol coot. You heard it here first people.

Not the greatest pic in the world, but there it is - my SIGNED poster :) Thanks to the great Boyce Adams - husband to my best friend Katie - for snaggin this for me. Prolly can't make it out, but its signed by Phil and says "Erin, Take a deep breath Rom 1:16 - Phil Robertson" Gotta love it :)


Been back to work for a little over a week and I am really enjoying getting back to "normal" - if that's what you can call it. Not sure if this can be considered normal - it waaaaay exceeds any normal I'm used to! Planning on heading back to school in the Spring, so ill be workin on that the next few weeks. I'm pretty excited, but - well lets be honest. My first attempt at college didn't exactly go as planned, so fingers crossed this one turns out better than the last.


Well, guess that's about it for now. Nothin super exciting happening right now. Sorta seems like this blog as served its purpose. Not sure where I'm gonna go from here with this thing, but I'm either gonna hafta stop writing or I'm gonna hafta start coming up with stuff more interesting than my day to day activities lol.

So, hope everyone is having a great and are gearin up for a great holiday season. I'll be heading up to North Carolina the weekend before Christmas and I CANNOT WAIT! The countdown begins - 22 days!

Have a good one everybody...



Much love...



Erin

Profound explanation of organ donation...

While I have much more to share about whats been happen here at Mayo/Jax the last week or so, I wanted to post this for now while I finish up an update. This was posted on FB by a friend/fellow CF patient & double lung transplant recipient. She is a huge advocate for organ donation and travels around the world discussing the importance of donation/transplantation with different cultures (specifically ones with cultural/religious apprehensions towards organ donation). The following quotes are amazing explanations of why organ donation is such an incredible thing and should be viewed as such, not something that devalues human life or has any religious ramifications. Please check out the organ donation and transplantation page to learn more about how u can help save a life! :)

ENJOY!


The following posts are geared toward the Japanese culture's fear regarding reincarnation and the afterlife...

"If you are worried that you will miss out on a resurrection or limp around in heaven if you don't have all of your parts, let's consider for a moment the power of God to create you from two individual cells that combined to from one complete set of DNA, which then duplicated and differentiated itself into a living, breathing, thinking, feeling, human being. If God can create you once from two microscopic cells, then God can certainly account for the lack of a liver, kidney, heart, lungs, corneas and some skin and bones. In addition, Jewish tradition considers saving a life to be the epitome of religious obligations. When you agree to be a donor, you can save the lives of up to eight people, and help numerous others with cornea transplants and bone and skin grafts." -- Rabbi David Krishef

"Have you had your tonsils out? Maybe an appendix? We have shed hair and nails and skin all our lives. In death the unraveling of the flesh is expected. One could say that to die is to come apart. Your discomfort with donating organs is at least partly the discomfort of losing your body and life in general. That is natural. Likewise, when we honor the bodies of the dead we show our reluctance to let go, our respect for the mystery of life, our respect for ourselves. Giving organs to those in need of them does not violate the rule of nature, which claims all flesh in time. It does not violate the life of the deceased, as the body is now lifeless. It does not violate the respect we have for life in general, as it helps preserve and enhance the lives of those around us. To be able to give life is a virtue all faiths extol. Life was a gift in the first place; to be able to hand it on is to make us partners with the Giver of Life. Win-win." -- Rev. Fred Wooden, senior minister of Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids


Thank you goes out to Isabel Stenzel Barnes for these incredible posts and for all her and her sister Anabel Stenzel's hard work in promoting organ donation and bringing awareness to CF. To learn more about these incredible sisters, check out their website www.thepoweroftwomovie.com





Much love...xoxo



Erin