8 Months Post Transplant!!!

Sorry for not updating my progress lately.  My last post was in March.  Yikes..Time flies.  

Well, since March I have basically been in a holding pattern so to say.  I started Cardiac Maintenance.  At Kishwaukee Cardiac Rehab, I am able to pay for a monthly gym fee to workout at their facilities.  This enables me to continue working out under the watchful eye of the nurses.  I don’t wear a heart monitor but at least if I feel off, they can take my BP and keep checking in on me.  Also, it is a very clean environment so I feel better working out there without the fear of germs.  I have made a few friends with some of the regulars and have also met a transplant recipient that is 11 years out from Loyola.  It’s cool to swap war stories with him.  It is still fun to workout there.  I love seeing the other patients and giggle when some of them come in dockers and plaid dress shirts to workout.  And the aftershave…ugh. I find myself thinking about my grandpa Brooks and his “Skin Bracer” and sing to myself  “Thanks. I needed that! By Mennen!”  IYKYK.  My new friend is Marilyn.  She has a lung problem and is on oxygen.  She makes me smile and it is nice to see her doing well when she works out.  I still hate working out and feel that it is torture but I know it is helping me with endurance.  So I guess in the long run this will be good for me.

I am in a routine now where I get blood tests done every 2 weeks to monitor how well I am doing on my meds.  So far I have needed to slightly increase my Tac medication since my number dropped slightly.  This is an immunosuppressant drug to help my heart not reject.  Tac gives me the shakes so the increase has slightly caused some increase in the shakes but I have learned to live with it.  I think the only thing that has suffered from the shakes is my penmanship.  Thank goodness with the invention of computers, good penmanship has gone to the wayside.

Visited with the Dr this week and he said everything is doing very well and that I am in the final stage of the first year.  I will have one more ECHO at the end of the month then in early September will be my one year Right Heart Cath.  The blood work will continue to be every 10-14 days until told otherwise.  I thank God that I chose Northwestern as my health system.  I go downtown for major testing, but blood work, Echos and Dr visits I am able to do it all in the suburbs in Huntley, Dekalb and Winfield.  Even the Right Heart Cath I can do at Central DuPage Hospital in September.  Of course if anything goes awry, my ass is downtown…but until then I am happy with the care in the suburbs.

My donor family has not been in contact with me.  I know many of you are anxious to know about my donor.  I wonder about them too but I have been very hard at work with recovering and living with my new heart so I don’t stress about the lack of communication.  The donor lost a loved one.  I am definitely the last person they are thinking about.  I just will make sure that their gift is well taken care of and appreciated.

Tim and I bought a new dog.  She is an Old English Sheepdog and my shadow.  Tim named her Miss Pickles and she is the sweetest little girl ever.  My hopes are that we can train her to go on walks with me and she will be a great addition to the family. So far she has been so cool.  Getting up with her in the morning like I did when my kids were infants is an interesting challenge.  But..the new heart allows me to pop out of bed now instead of dragging myself out of bed like I did when I was younger.  It’s funny how I am supposed to get slower as I get older but with Hardie I am getting better everyday.  Too bad the rest of my body hasn’t gotten the memo.  (HA HA)

Happy Mother’s Day!!!