Crazy Beginning to 2008

Quick update about me.

The year started off great for me but quickly turned sour. On January 2, I was heading home when I hit black ice and totaled my truck. The truck hit a telephone pole on the driver's side door. Luckily, the only car and person involved was me. I don't think that it knocked me out, except maybe a few seconds. I was conscious when a friend drove up and took me to the hospital. They put 13 staples in my head and did their tests which revealed a cracked vertebrae. I am blessed to be walking and I do not scoff at the new miracle God has afforded me. It's nice to know that my God loves me!


Once they called my liver team, I was sent to Emory to be checked out by one of their doctors and to make sure that my liver numbers were stable. No problems there and a couple nights later I was at home.

I have had to wear a neck brace 24/7 for the past 3 weeks and still have 3 to go but hopefully I will be able to get it off when I go back to the doctor on February 12.


Had a check up last week with the clinic and found out my liver numbers are GREAT!! I am now down to 5mg of prednisone a day. If everything is still good in March, I should be completely off of that nasty medication!

Thankful

I know this is late and probably should have come before Thanksgiving but I just wanted to say thanks to some people and let people know how I have been blessed in my life.

I haven't always looked on the hand that I was dealt with a smile. To be completely honest, for most of my sickness I held an anger inside as to why this had to happen to me. I rarely let that anger show on the outside, and would respond to questions and live life as "PC" as possible. I was angry with God for a period of time (short-lived though) because "this life" was not in my life plan! Things like this happened to other people, not to me!

Today, I look at my life, past, present, and future with a smile. I can see God's hand through everything that I went through. I didn't give Him enough credit in the middle of the battle. At the time I was diagnosed, I was not doing the things that were pleasing to Christ, to my family, to my body, or to my testimony. I do not believe that God gave me PSC because of the way that I was living, but I do know now that it was my ticket out of that life. I only see that in retrospect and there are moments ( I may sound crazy for saying this) where I am thankful for going through the hardships of a terminal liver disease and transplantation.

(I just realized I don't know where I am going with this post, but bear with me.)

I can see where going through the things that I did have brought me closer to God, to my family, to my real self. I don't know what might have happened with my life had things not gone the way that they have, and I really don't care to know. I feel like it may have led to more heartache and more destruction.

Through PSC and my transplant I have met many wonderful and loving people (some only over the web) and those people have brought some great advice, compassion, and encouragement. I have been able to make some old relationships stronger and some new relationships unforgettable. Without the transplant, I would have never met some of these wonderful people and never had the opportunity to make some old relationships worth holding on to.

I am not saying that my life is easy. There are still days that I get down and whine about my situation, but I thank God everyday for the people I have talked to who have helped me. Some things people have done, some things people have said have touched me and helped me more than they will ever know. I hope that in some way that I have made a fraction of the impact that you have made on my life.

I have a wonderful family who have been beside me through this entire chapter of my life. I have great parents and an awesome brother who I know would be beside me no matter what happened. I have friends who have always been there for me to call when I am down with a ready hand to pick me up.

What I am trying to say is that I am blessed beyond words. I thank God everyday for the people who have been a part of my life, allowed me to be a part of their life, had a kind word or deed, and given me a shoulder to cry on. If you are reading this blog and wondering if I am talking about you, I AM!!

Please become an organ donor! A special and direct thank you goes out to my donor family! Without their compassion, I would not be here today able to thank everyone else for this amazing life Jesus has blessed me with. There is not a day that goes by that this family does not cross my mind! I hope one day to meet you and thank you personally for the gift that I was given.

I love all of you!

Another Update

It has been a few weeks since I have been able to update my blog here. As far as my condition goes, I am doing great! It seems things are pretty stable and being about 17 months out of surgery things seem boring. I am keeping my fingers crossed that things only get more boring about me on this blog.

On another note, I stumbled across a link to another PSC patient who was transplanted recently. Carl's Liver Transplant blog brings back some memories of the initial setbacks and victories that seemed to happen almost daily. He is doing well though and continues to recover. If you read this and are saying a prayer for me, try to include Carl in your prayers as well. From Sunday's update, it seems they are waiting for his liver enzymes to drop and level out a bit. Go on over and check his blog out and leave a comment. It is always fun getting comments! At least I think so!

On the organ donation front, I have another parent talk scheduled on Wednesday, September 5 at Children's Healthcare again. The last talk was so much fun and I expect this one to be no different. Jenn and I are getting to do the Q&A again so I guess the people at Lifelink liked us. We had a good time and everyone seemed to enjoy laughing at some of the things we have done and also get some information on getting a job post-transplant and keeping your spirits up in hard times. I enjoy the time I get to donate to the organ donation cause. I am wanting to get more involved. I have been entertaining the idea of putting my name out to churches to give my testimony and talk about the importance of organ donation. I am not really sure how to do this, so if you have any suggestions let me know!

Blessings seem to be coming into my life daily. Small blessings that, if I am not careful and watchful, I will overlook. Some big blessings where I have definitely seen God's hand at work. I am living with the strongest desire I have ever had to draw closer to God. Though things have not gone as I have planned lately, I know that they are right in accord with where God wants me in my life. I am learning to get my wants out of the way and look to God to show me where He wants me. He always seems to put me right in the exact spot at the exact time. I serve a good God! Without Him, I am nothing; with Him, I am everything.

When you pray, mention me!