Journal entry by Julie Gara —
6 days short of 6 months Post Transplant
It’s been a while since I sent out an update, which is a good thing. I am doing really well! I am getting used to my new “normal”. Dylan said that the heart transplant excuse has run its course and I can’t use it anymore. He is so blunt in his “love language”.
Today I graduated from Cardiac Rehab. 34 sessions of monitored exercise. Every MWF! (only didn’t go on holidays, weather days and sick days). When I started, my walking speed was 2.75mph during my 6 minute walk. Not bad but still a little slow. At the beginning of the program, I had sternum pain, got winded often and couldn’t lift a 1 lb weight. Today at graduation, we saw a 14% increase in my stamina for walking and my speed at walking increased to 3.15 mph. Pretty brisk for an old fart with a new heart. I am lifting 4 lbs without flab wobble and will most likely try to increase my arm weights to 6 lbs (gradually of course). I can walk on the treadmill at 2.9 mph for 13 minutes (bored and counting the seconds until I am done the whole time) and I did 13 minutes at level 7 on the NuStep (its the sitting elliptical). The final few weeks the nurses put me on the actual Elliptical. Ancient torture technique at its best! I felt every bit of my 52 years doing it and I was only on it for 2 minutes.
But overall, cardiac rehab has gotten me back to pre transplant strength, if not better. I am so grateful for that program. It gave me goals to reach and the ability to exercise while being monitored. My confidence in my ability to do things have skyrocketed.
Health wise, I am doing well. Though I have had 2 bouts of a cold since Christmas, it hasn’t been too bad. Being that my immune system is compromised, I have to realize that I need to be a little bit more cautious when going out in public. I get blood work done every 2 weeks now out at the Huntley hospital. My blood tests come back fine and no issues. I am getting an ECHO done tomorrow with a follow up Dr. Appointment right after. I don’t anticipate any issues.
Being that I am hitting my 6 month mark next week, there is a chance that my donor’s family may contact me. Still not sure how I feel about it but I will accept the letter if one is written to me. If or when I get a letter from the donor’s family, I will take my time writing back. I just think I want to see the tone of their letter first before or if I write back. I have my issues with contacting the donor’s family that I am trying to work through, so I am not sure how I want to move forward with it. I appreciate everyone’s opinion about it, but until you are in my shoes, I don’t think you truly understand the emotional debate i have within myself.
The heart is doing very well. It has given me more hope for the future than I have had in a while. Being that I have had a bum heart for 23 years, I have missed out on so much. Fun day trips and drinking caffeine was a pipe dream for me. Now, I am a “basic bitch”. I am buying into all the Dunkin’ Lattes and Starbucks foo-foo drinks. I am taking a medication that induces the “shakes”. On a good day, my hand shakes slightly. After a Dunkin Caramel Craze Iced Signature Latte, my hand shakes so bad it renders my handwriting unreadable. It makes me giggle. But after 6 months, I am thankful for all the new experiences. I am thankful for going to bed tired…not because I am in heart failure like before but because my heart is excelling and allowing me to do more than I ever have. I’m excited for Tim because I am going to have him running around with me and we are going to have so many fun adventures. I hope he can keep up 😉
Hope to see everyone soon and stay well!
It’s been a while since I sent out an update, which is a good thing. I am doing really well! I am getting used to my new “normal”. Dylan said that the heart transplant excuse has run its course and I can’t use it anymore. He is so blunt in his “love language”.
Today I graduated from Cardiac Rehab. 34 sessions of monitored exercise. Every MWF! (only didn’t go on holidays, weather days and sick days). When I started, my walking speed was 2.75mph during my 6 minute walk. Not bad but still a little slow. At the beginning of the program, I had sternum pain, got winded often and couldn’t lift a 1 lb weight. Today at graduation, we saw a 14% increase in my stamina for walking and my speed at walking increased to 3.15 mph. Pretty brisk for an old fart with a new heart. I am lifting 4 lbs without flab wobble and will most likely try to increase my arm weights to 6 lbs (gradually of course). I can walk on the treadmill at 2.9 mph for 13 minutes (bored and counting the seconds until I am done the whole time) and I did 13 minutes at level 7 on the NuStep (its the sitting elliptical). The final few weeks the nurses put me on the actual Elliptical. Ancient torture technique at its best! I felt every bit of my 52 years doing it and I was only on it for 2 minutes.
But overall, cardiac rehab has gotten me back to pre transplant strength, if not better. I am so grateful for that program. It gave me goals to reach and the ability to exercise while being monitored. My confidence in my ability to do things have skyrocketed.
Health wise, I am doing well. Though I have had 2 bouts of a cold since Christmas, it hasn’t been too bad. Being that my immune system is compromised, I have to realize that I need to be a little bit more cautious when going out in public. I get blood work done every 2 weeks now out at the Huntley hospital. My blood tests come back fine and no issues. I am getting an ECHO done tomorrow with a follow up Dr. Appointment right after. I don’t anticipate any issues.
Being that I am hitting my 6 month mark next week, there is a chance that my donor’s family may contact me. Still not sure how I feel about it but I will accept the letter if one is written to me. If or when I get a letter from the donor’s family, I will take my time writing back. I just think I want to see the tone of their letter first before or if I write back. I have my issues with contacting the donor’s family that I am trying to work through, so I am not sure how I want to move forward with it. I appreciate everyone’s opinion about it, but until you are in my shoes, I don’t think you truly understand the emotional debate i have within myself.
The heart is doing very well. It has given me more hope for the future than I have had in a while. Being that I have had a bum heart for 23 years, I have missed out on so much. Fun day trips and drinking caffeine was a pipe dream for me. Now, I am a “basic bitch”. I am buying into all the Dunkin’ Lattes and Starbucks foo-foo drinks. I am taking a medication that induces the “shakes”. On a good day, my hand shakes slightly. After a Dunkin Caramel Craze Iced Signature Latte, my hand shakes so bad it renders my handwriting unreadable. It makes me giggle. But after 6 months, I am thankful for all the new experiences. I am thankful for going to bed tired…not because I am in heart failure like before but because my heart is excelling and allowing me to do more than I ever have. I’m excited for Tim because I am going to have him running around with me and we are going to have so many fun adventures. I hope he can keep up 😉
Hope to see everyone soon and stay well!
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