Nikki's New Lungs

I have reached another milestone.  Transplant lists have been a hot topic in the news lately. There are plenty of people waiting for the gift of life.  As of today, yours truly has been waiting for a lung transplant for THREE YEARS!

It’s been at least three years since I’ve been sick enough to need this gift.  When my lung functions were as bad as they had ever been, there was no way I thought the wait would be this long.  There was no way I thought I would make it this long without a transplant.  I hope I don’t sound like a broken record.

But I’m still here.  Challenges keep coming my way.  Life keeps showing me new perspectives. I’m happy. My spirits are good.  Things will get better.

Now I’m heading out to do something awesome!

This is a video blog, enjoy!

Andrew, the hockey player who we hosted from Salt Lake City, came back to stay with us for a few weeks. He has tryouts for Junior hockey teams here in Minnesota. His mother, Tina, is here for a week also. It couldn’t be better timing since I still require assistance around the house. Thank goodness for the two of them!

Today was a fun day. We looked at walkers so I could have a little more independence around the house.  It’s very difficult carrying items with crutches in my hands. And attention all shoppers, look out!  I had fun zipping around the aisles of Byerly’s in one of the electric carts. It was nice to leave the house and go somewhere other than a doctor’s office.

Tina, myself, & Andrew

Look out shoppers!

My niece Lauren and her cousin Brant

It is painful and difficult to get around but I had two of the best little helpers this weekend. Not only did they help me with preparing my medication, feeding and watering me, but they even helped bake cookies! It’s amazing what you can do from the couch with some great help.

I saw my Orthopedist on Friday. When he came into the room he told me he had good news and bad news. The good news is there were no torn ligaments or tendons. The bad news, I have a very bad bruise on the knee bone. Medial femoral condyle and tibial plateau contusions to be technical. Sadly, it requires the same amount of recovery as a torn ligament. I’m looking at eight to twelve weeks.

A bone bruise is different from a tissue or muscle bruise. It is an extremely painful injury because it is on the essential bone part. Tiny fractures of the fibers in the outer layer of the bone (the cortex) occur. It is one step before a fracture. My Ortho told me I had to baby this injury, if I don’t my bone still could completely break.

I am still nauseated at times during the day due to the amount of pain and sleep is quite challenging.

This is a video blog, enjoy!

This is a video blog, enjoy!

Cheering with Lauren

Those drugs were making me sleepy. For the last month, I’ve been unable to leave the house, except for doctor’s appointments. The 24 hour drip was draining all of my energy, one drop at a time. Thursday we stopped the antibiotics and today I was able to cheer on the Minnesota Wild in their first playoff game in a while. Unreal! I can’t believe it, only 4 days ago I would have never been able to attend. I’m so happy to know that part of my exhaustion was the antibiotics. I still have to take it easy but it sure felt GREAT to do something fun. It was a fantastic game with a Wild win in overtime.

Travis, Dana, myself, & Lauren

This is a video blog, enjoy!

This is a video blog, enjoy!