IT's CRazy..BuT TrUE!

           There are so many weird things that happened during my transplant, and some of them contributed to it's extreme success. Lot's of things just fell into place which could have only been god's doing.

1) I waited only two months for my lungs..that's it! (only it seemed like a lifetime)

2) I received my call just in time...we did not know how much longer I could wait.

3) My first call for my transplant was my only call. I never had to experience any 'dry runs' like other transplant patients.

4) My lungs came from the same hospital that I was transplanted. They did not have to be shipped from another city or state.

5) They didn't have to put me on the heart/lung machine. My organs were strong enough to do all their own work without any machine's assistance.

6) The lungs fit almost perfectly. Only one had to be trimmed down just a little bit...which is weird considering how small I am.

7) My dad and inlaws arrived on a plane from Nebraska just in time to see me and talk a bit right before I went back to the OR.

8) The pajama pants that I was wearing strangely vanished. I was wearing them when they wheeled me back for surgery, but they were no where to be found after the operation. LOL

9) My surgery only took about 4 hours. Typically, lung transplants take anywhere from 6-8 hours..if not longer.

10) My donor saved about 20 lives the day he died. Such a miracle! Be an organ donor please!

11) My lungs popped right out! HA HA A lot of times they have to dig them out of the chest cavity, which takes longer.

12) I was discharged from the hospital just 7 days after my transplant. Most patients spend at least 2 weeks in there (or more) recovering.

13) I had virtually no complications during my recovery process.

14) The surgery I had to place my feeding tube was way worse than my transplant itself. The recovery from that surgery was unbearably painful.

15) When they pulled out my drainage tubes it sounded like a suction cup being pulled off a window! lol POP!

16) At first, I actually thought that if I did too much too soon that my lungs might come "un-hinged"..ha ha! I was afraid that they might fall out!

17) They had to break my sternum to put my lungs in. Then they inserted a little metal plate to reconnect them. For the longest time I was afraid of setting off the alarms at the airport! lOL!

18) Sometimes when I take a deep breath I hear a 'click' sound, which is the plate shifting.

19)My docs told me that I have a "curved" sternum so my plate sits on it weird. They have to keep a close eye on it because it will loosen easily.

20) I had no antibodies in my original lungs, so there is a lot less chance for rejection.

22) Your first breaths taken after transplant are not a smooth as everyone says they will be. It takes a couple days to get the air flowing beautifully, but when it does the feeling is indescribable!!



            So you see...prayers really do work!:)