Besides my wordless Wednesday’s, this is my first post in 2016. Let me start with HAPPY NEW YEAR!

This is an extended post so I apologize for the length. I will update more frequently from here on out.

I will begin with my birthday week back in December. What an amazing and memorable time to turn 40! The only sad part was, Travis was out of town all week working. I would have loved to share more of the good times with him.

Sunday: Before Travis had to head out of town, he helped with my annual Toys for Tots shopping spree. Along with my niece Lauren, neighbor girls Sarah & Grace, and our friend Kelly we filled eleven carts full of toys!

After our big shopping spree we needed to replenish our energy. We had a quick birthday dinner with my family then Travis was off.

Monday: My friend Kelly and I went out for dinner. Kelly had moved here from Salt Lake City back in September. We had met her through our hockey player, Andrew, who lived with us for two years. She got a job at the U of M Children’s Hospital and couldn’t wait to move to Minneapolis. It’s been fun spending time with her.

Tuesday: I spent the night with the neighborhood ladies. We celebrated the holidays and our white elephant gift exchange did not let down. Since Travis sells toilet seats, I was able to get a sample and wrap one with a big bow. I thought it was a great gift but nobody wanted to steal it from my neighbor Amy. I don’t know why 😉 All the ladies brought and donated toys for my toy drive that I was able to deliver the next day.

Wednesday: A dream came true, I TURNED 40!!! I started the day by delivering cookies to all my clinic and hospital departments that have taken care of me, both before and after transplant. Part of the reason I am able to celebrate my milestone is because of the excellent care I have received from them. A few of the departments had gathered and donated money and toys too!

Throughout the week, I had some last minute monetary donations. After I left the hospital, I needed to buy more toys to add to my total. I can’t thank all of you enough! THANK YOU to everyone that either donated funds or toys!!! I surpassed my goal of four hundred toys for my fortieth.

I really wanted to see my parents on my birthday but since I was running around gathering more goodies, I didn’t have time to run to their house. They made my day and came to me. In between buying toys and packing them up, we had a quick visit.

Since Travis was out of town and he had our truck in Wisconsin, delivering all the toys was going to be a challenge. Thanks to our friend Jay, and his big Navigator truck, he came and helped me and Lauren deliver the toys to Kare11. Thank you all again! Imagine all the kids that are happy and playing with their new gifts. We delivered a grand total and record number of……..457 TOYS! This was not possible without all of your help!

Lauren and I were hoping to wave at the end of the newscast holding a couple of the big plush animals we were delivering. Here is a picture my friend Annie sent while she was watching at home.

Thanks to Belinda Jensen, she put me in contact with one of the managers at Kare11. He asked me to call him when I was about to deliver all the toys. As I mentioned, we were hoping to be waving on the news and we did get to do that on my birthday. But so much more happened. When we arrived, he had us meet one of the reporters and a camera man in the employee lot. They actually did a story on my toy delivery! It aired the following night.

After the BIG delivery and interview, I picked up Dana and we headed downtown. Thanks to her and my girlfriends, Annie and Kari, I was able to get out the night of my birthday. I missed Travis though. We shared a glass of champagne and lots of laughter.

You know how I love cartwheels, I made sure to do a 40th birthday cartwheel at the restaurant. It’s a little dark but click on this link to see my cartwheel.

It was about a minute before midnight when Dana said “you didn’t blow out a candle on your birthday”. The bartender grabbed the closest thing to him, an Oreo cookie, twisted it in, half slapped a candle in it and Wabam, I got my birthday wish!

Thursday: Thank you Kare11 and again, thanks to all who donated. You helped make all of this happen. Here is a link to the Kare11 Toys for Tots story aired the day after my birthday.

Friday: Our nephew, Zac, was supposed to come into town for Thanksgiving but due to his job, he had to cancel his trip. He ended up flying in on the Friday to spend time with family and attend my birthday party. Travis came home from Wisconsin and we spent the night with other family in town as well.

Saturday: NEON Party Night! Thank you everyone that came to the party, sent messages telling me happy birthday, and best wishes from those that couldn’t make it! It was so much fun!!

Before we left for the party, Travis was dropping off Honey for the night at our friends, Sarina & Yossi’s house. Their kids were puppy sitting for the night. Luckily, Travis was close to their house, he got a flat tire! With Yossi’s help, they were able to change the tire.

We had an unexpected delay to the party but on the way there, Travis gave me my birthday gift. He had asked me what I wanted. Since this was my 40th, I told him “You have to think of something. I don’t care how much it costs, I don’t care if you make something, I just want it to be memorable”.

He bought me bagpipes!!!

I have always loved the bagpipes. Before my transplant, I was nowhere close to having enough lung capacity to blow these babies. The day of my transplant Travis had posted this 6 hours out of surgery. I’ve wanted to play them since my surgery and my doctor has given me the “ok” to start, now I can! I hope Travis and the neighbors are ready for the sound of a new piper. this is definitely going to be memorable!

When we finally arrived at the party, I was so excited to see everyone. Nurses that used to take care of me when I was at Children’s Hospital, pharmacists, friends we haven’t seen in a very long time, and friends we see often were all there. Family members and long time family friends were among the crowd. I am truly blessed to have each and every one of you in my life.

Another surprise of the night was when our friend, Aimee, came behind me and picked me up. I turned around and couldn’t believe my eyes! Aimee moved to the St. Louis area months ago and was not supposed to be able to make it. She happened to get the couple days off but didn’t tell me she was making the 8 hour drive to be at the party. Thanks for making the long trip Aimee!

There were so many great photos taken, here are a few of my favorites:

I have some great photos from the photo booth that we had at the party.

Once all the candles were lit on my cake, I thought of my new lungs while I inhaled a deep breath. I blew ALL OF THE CANDLES out in one breath!! I started to tear up, I surprised myself when I did it. Thank you Jacob (my donor).

Sunday: The next day we went to the Vikings game against the Chicago Bears for the win. Our friend, Bob, couldn’t make it to the party the night before so he gave us tickets to keep the birthday celebration going.

It was an amazing week. I will never forget turning 40!

After all the fun from my birthday it was time to get prepared to host Christmas Eve. It was the smallest holiday we have had in a long time. Dana, our niece & nephew, Travis’ mom, step dad, and step mom were all missing. It was quieter than normal but we had a great night.

One of the reasons I was not posting right before Christmas, my old computer crashed for the last time. I told Travis I was heading out to replace it when he told me “NO!”. I kinda guessed what was going to be under the tree for me 😉

It’s always hard to shop for Travis. Last year for New Years, we were at Scott & Ashley’s house. Scott showed Travis his mittens he had just received for Christmas. I remembered Travis loved them but we don’t have a store in the area that carries them. Thanks to Scott’s mom and dad, Bob and Peggy, they did some secret shopping for me in California and sent them to me to wrap. Thanks for making Travis a happy camper, he was so surprised. If he ever decides to climb Mt. Everest, his hands will be warm

I had noticed the month of December I was a little more tired than usual. I figured it was the hustle and bustle of the holiday and the excitement of my birthday. Christmas day, I thought my body was telling me, that’s enough! I was so tired and didn’t get off the couch for over eight days. I had not watched so much TV or seen so many movies since I was recovering from my transplant. The day after Christmas we watched the entire Star Wars Trilogy.

Then I started to sniffle and cough…a lot. I was wheezing and finally made a call into my doctor. I had a virus which I figured caused my sleepiness. I did manage to get out for a quick dinner for my brother’s birthday on December 28th and mustered up enough energy to stop by the neighbors to ring in the New Year but other than those two outings, I was a huge couch potato!

I need to back track a little. When I saw my doctor at the beginning of December, I went to get my standard lab draws and they mentioned there were a couple extra tests ordered. Turns out when I was hospitalized the week of Thanksgiving with my high temperature, my body was telling me something.

After I was discharged from the hospital in November, my EBV level came back with some elevated numbers. EBV stands for Epstein Barr Virus otherwise known as Mono. Possibly my tiredness was caused from the cold virus but I was maybe suffering from Mono too.

My infectious disease doctor, Dr. Jo Anne Young, was out of town until the first week of January. I was a little nervous to hear what she had to say about the EBV. I remember before my transplant her saying that people who have had transplants, EBV can be very dangerous and we would cross the path if we crossed it. We are crossing it.

She looked at my past blood levels. Basically, my body is too immuno-supressed so I have a very, very weak immune system. With my body having such little fighting power towards infections, the EBV has decided to surface.

For those that don’t know much about EBV or Mono, about 95% of the population has been exposed to the virus. The majority never have any symptoms or even knew they have been exposed including myself up until recently.

In most instances, EBV is not a threat. Although, for people who have had transplants it can be very dangerous. In fact, if it is not controlled, it can turn into a type of cancer called lymphoma. As you can imagine, my first and foremost concern is getting this under control!

The hopes are that once my body is not over immuno-suppressed, my own immune system will kick back in and fight off the EBV. Finding the sweet spot where my body is suppressed enough so my lungs don’t reject but where I have a little immune system to fight off some infections will be an ongoing concern for the rest of my life.

If you recall after my transplant, I lost my main highway vein, the subclavian vein. I will also be on blood thinners (coumadin) for the rest of my life. Unfortunately, the combination of my immuno-suppressents and coumadin make them more complicated to control. Mixing these meds makes each of them way more volatile.

For now, I am back to racking up the miles with weekly trips to the hospital for blood draws taken from my little footsies. It’s more of a hassle but I obviously don’t mind as long as I get everything in control!

Another health issue I am having is related to my diabetes. I have some diabetic retinopathy. Diabetic retinopathy is damaged blood vessels in the tissue of the back of the eye (retina).

I needed to have laser surgery to correct some blood vessels that burst. It was very unpleasant. Imagine a strobe light in your eye that is pried open while a horrible pressure surrounds your eye and head. At times, I was very nauseous. Having the surgery was a real “eye opener” to get better control of my diabetes.

Before transplant I constantly had to be eating to maintain my weight. I burned so many calories just trying to breathe. The never ending eating never gave my body the chance to get my blood sugars in a good range.

Now, breathing with my new lungs, I don’t have to shovel so much food in my face. I have changed my ways of eating in the last couple of weeks. I eat, wait three hours without eating anything else, and check my blood sugar. This gives my diabetes a much better chance to get in good control. I have to admit, I never realized how often I snack. I can’t wait for the timer of three hours to ring!

Here is a picture of my eye. The big black spot is not good. That is the blood vessel that popped. The good news is, if I get my blood sugars in control, the other damage that is forming is completely reversible.  

Since my last update we celebrated some family members birthday’s. Honey in now one but is still all puppy. My brother, Travis’ mom, and Dana turned a year older and Lauren officially became a teenager!!

January 15-24th, St. Paul hosted the 2016 U.S. Figure Skating National Championships. The last time Nationals was in Minnesota was 2008. Back then I was wearing oxygen and not feeling well so we didn’t spend very much time at the rink.

This year, I was at the Excel Center a lot! It was so fun reminiscing with past competitors, coaches, and judges from my skating past. Some I hadn’t seen since 2008. Others, it had been almost twenty years!

I surprised my mom by inviting my friend, Jerry, to dinner at our house while he was in town judging the skating events. The two of us skated and trained together when we were in Boston and Delaware. It was so fun to catch up and my mom was excited to see Jerry too!

To stick on the skating subject, I have been coaching a little more lately. Not only at Braemar Ice Arena also on some neighborhood ponds. I have been teaching some of our friends’ kids to skate.

Our friends, Julz & Jon, have the perfect pond in their backyard! Here is a video of their daughter Mary after only a few lessons. Look how fast Mary can skate now without falling! Mary skating

Another first since my new lungs was being able to jump on a trampoline! Our friend, Laura, hosted a surprise fortieth birthday party for her husband, John. It was at a trampoline park where Travis and I joined the jumping fun with the kids. Tossing the kids around, dodging balls, and jumping for an hour was a blast!

I don’t remember the last time I was on a trampoline, but it has been at least fifteen years. It was an amazing feeling to jump, not be out of breath, and not have a coughing fit after physical excursion like the last time I was able to jump. I even tried an old trick. I was so excited to STILL have it in me!! Watch this video Jump

 

And the last thing to catch you up with…Our friend, Jeff, gave me an awesome birthday gift, front row tickets to the AC/DC concert!As Travis said “The security guards have better seats than us, but they’re facing the wrong way”. Travis and I have always gone to the AC/DC concerts with Jeff when they have been in town. It is always a good time. Thanks again, Jeff!!

One last bit of fun. Four of us gals went to see A Chorus Line at the Ordway Theater. Cherish and I grew up watching it and recognized all the scenes. Kimmy and Dana had never seen it and we ALL loved it! So much that the whole way to the car the four of us were singing “One, singular sensation“. Thanks to Jody for helping with the tickets.

Thank you for reading this LONG post. I will try to keep them shorter and sweet from now on.