Six Months!

Yesterday, March 8th, was the six month mark from transplant. I am happy to report that things seem to be stabilizing. When the doctors, coordinators, and others who have gone through this experience say it can take 6 months to a year for things to really stabilize, perhaps they know what they are talking about.

When I last posted about 10 days ago, I was fresh out of another OR bronch where Dr. Haithcock removed my stents, did a bit of ballooning, and basically said lets do it again in two weeks and see what it looks like.

So far so good. I have some pain and discomfort when taking deep breaths, but for the most part I have had no wheezing or narrowing feelings. I have been back to work and back to a somewhat normal routine. Work has been incredibly busy. Perhaps on sheer call volume wise, the busiest the company has ever been (thanks to Snowmageddon, or snowpacolypse, or whatever everyone is calling it). So, the timing for me being back is good. I feel as though I am contributing and almost feel back mentally. Prograf makes me a bit forgetful at times. I have heard others report this, but it is very short term stuff, like If I took my meds in the am, or what I did the day before etc. But maybe I have always been like this :).

I am heading down to Chapel Hill on thursday for a clinic appt., but also on friday Dr. Haithcock is going to do the repeat OR Bronch. Perhaps everything will look good, perhaps he will balloon dilation a bit, or maybe even use the stents again. But again symptoms wise I do not feel even close to as bad as previous bronchs. My Dad is coming with me, so hopefully we will drive back friday right after the procedure.

I can not believe it has been six months! I actually finally sat down and wrote a letter to my donor family. I wrote it the other day and sent it off to the social worker at Chapel Hill. I will eventually post it on this blog, but want to wait and see if the donor family responds. They may or may not. But for now It will remain a personal letter to them. It was not hard to write, it only took 10 minutes , which shocked Rebecca. But, I have been thinking about what to say for six months, so it just flowed out. I feel a bit of anticipation again, almost like waiting for the lung call. Like I wonder when they will receive the letter and what their reaction might be? It is a weird feeling.

I restarted physical therapy up here in Bethesda at Suburban Hospital, which is close to my office. I really need to start challenging myself again and get these lungs working the best they can. Rebecca, myself and the boys plan to go to Denver for Spring Break week here at the end of the month beginning of April. We both have close friends there (Nick and Jamie), whom we have not visited since they have had their children and we cant wait to see them. The plan is to visit Jamie and her family first and then meet Nick up at Vail!! That will be a big test for these new lungs and how I am doing. Breathing at 8,000 feet!! But if I can, I will find a way, and I will snap a picture of me launching off of the back bowls into some fresh powder! That would be a major accomplishment!

Lets see what happens the next few weeks.

I will keep you all posted. Thanks for all the birthday wishes as well!!

-Mitch