Hey all!!!!! Happy Holidays😀

I'm sorry it has been so long for this update thanks to all you asking!

Let's do medical first, well I have made it 1 year post transplant still recovering.    Having a few issues.   Over the past year I've had my liver tests elevate this can be a sign off host versus graft disease which is my immune cells attacking my donors.   Because of this they have decreased my tacrolimus and then increased it accordingly lately the liver numbers have been a check.  So they started to wean me off the tacrolimus again and I've developed joint and muscle issues which they have attributed it to host versus graft.   It's very painful.   They have had to up my tacrolimus and start steroids.   The goal is to get off  Tacrolimus as you cannot stay on this drug for long periods and it keeps my immune system suppressed so the higher the tacrolimus dosage the more at risk I am at not being able to fight a cold or the flu etc.  I am also having breathing issues which they are still looking into .  This could be another host versus graft or it could simply be because a large portion of my lung was removed.  Also the joint and muscle may or may not correct itself at this point because it developed so late in the process it's called chronic host versus graft it may go away or it may be something I have to deal with.    Also I fight on and off nausea and vomiting I'm not really sure what this is due to it may just continue until I can get off these meds they are still looking into causes. None of this seems to be a surprise to anyone as my donor was  un-related and not a perfect match.   So far nothing has come up that we haven't been able to deal with.   Also I am still in remission for leukemia and I hope it stays that way for a long long 

time 😀😀😀

I got  long-term released from my job at Key after 26 years,  this is just their nice way of saying they fired me LOL.   This was a little difficult at first since working at key has been such a major part of my life  but in the end I'm not so sad to leave  the rat race was getting a little too ratty.

after 26 years what ended up being the most important to me was the friends I made that are like family and I didn't get fired from them😀.   It was a little bit of an adjustment because it was a major part of my life.

 Mentally I'm doing OK.   After spending a year and a half or so concentrating on putting 1 foot in front of the other getting through the day at hand and getting to those major milestones taking a step back at a much slower pace  and the last part of this recovery is moving so slow  has been hard for me to adjust to.   I find myself in a place now where I'm not sure where I'm going or exactly where I should be.   I have not been released to go back to work yet.   So finding a purpose or wanting to move forward but not being able to fully has been frustrating.   i'm sure that most of you can relate to this as it's probably a common theme after going through a Trumatic event which let's face it most of us have been through.

 I am God willing going to have a big party in the summer of 2017 called Beth Fest "A celebratation of family and friends".   Consider yourself all invited 😀.   It's important to me to celebrate all my family and friends and kind of say thank you for all the support and love that our family has received and has been a big part of me getting through this.

 Listen if I've learned anything,  and yes this is going to sound corny,  don't sweat the small stuff  in the end life is about enjoying the moment and appreciating and loving your family and friends.  It really is that simple💗

 This may with any luck be my last post to the caring bridge.   Please if you respond let me know how you were doing I would love to hear!!!!

H