Hard Work

This is ten percent luck, twenty percent skill
Fifteen percent concentrated power of will
Five percent pleasure, fifty percent pain
And a hundred percent reason to remember the name!
-Fort Minor "Remember the Name"

Was listening to this song the other day and got to thinking about life. More specifically, having things in life that we take pride in. I'm not talking material possessions or trivial things, but relationships that we have had to work at, careers that we had to work to achieve, and other things that we can honestly look back and say, "I did that!" To get there is rarely an easy road and we have all put in our "fifty percent pain" while only getting the "five percent pleasure." Looking back though, we have pleasure in knowing that we did all we could to make things work and we can be proud and have 100% pleasure in knowing that we have worked hard for what we have and that no one can take that from us.

With that, I just want to say thank you to everyone who has helped me get the things that I am proud to look back at with a feeling of accomplishment. Some of you probably don't know the part you played. One day I hope to be able to tell everyone that part and thank them personally!

Happy Thanksgiving

Hope everyone has had a great Thanksgiving. I know this is getting out late on Thanksgiving night, but I have been busy all day doing family "stuff." It has been a really good day. Had some time to reflect today on things to be thankful for and, of course, I have many! It didn't hit me until later tonight that just being around family for me this year is a blessing. Just to not be in the hospital or sick is a blessing. To have a family to spend time with is a blessing. I could go on and on. I know, lately, I have been scarce with my friends but I have been spending more time with my family. I want to thank everyone who reads this and who has helped me through hard times with the transplant. I know that the prayers that were prayed and the kind words that were said to me will not go unpaid. I just want everyone to know that, on Earth, right now, they haven't gone unnoticed! Happy Thanksgiving!

Olympic Wrestler Workout

This is insane!

Wellness Conference

Sorry for the long delay in updating. I have been incredibly busy with teaching and trying to stay caught up. It is easy to get behind when you miss at least one day a week, not to mention the hospital stays that have set me back 3 or 4 days at a time. I am getting caught up and actually feel like I can breathe now. Hopefully I will be updating more regularly now. Now for the update....

First off, I am whole again! I had a biliary drain in my side until last Wednesday and it was removed. This means that there are no more tubes or medical appendages coming out of my body. It feels good to not have to worry about pulling it out before it needs to come out. I was happy to discover that the removal of the biliary drain did not hurt. I was worried going in because the removal of my JP drain was nothing short of excruciating. The doctor just told me to take a deep breath and before I could finish inhaling, he was finished. Otherwise, I am doing well.

Second, I spent all day Saturday at a Wellness Conference put on by the Georgia Transplant Foundation. It was awesome to meet other people who have had a transplant and see other people who I haven't seen since we left Emory. I also met my inspiration and benchmark for getting better, Chris Klug. He is an Olympic bronze medalist snowboarder who won that medal just a year and a half after transplant. He is a superstar in the transplant community and an inspiration to others. You never know how it is going to be when you meet people with "status." I went to a seminar that was a Q&A with Klug. In the seminar there was also a transplant pharmacist from Tampa General Hospital who was a recipient of 2 kidneys. Klug later came up and we had a short conversation over lunch. It is always nice when you meet people you look up to and they live up to those expectations.

Well that is the update for now, hope you enjoyed!

PICC Line is gone!

Just returned from one more long trip to Emory University's Transplant Clinic. Good checkup. Been a while since I had one go that well. Lately going to the clinic has been a nervous experience because I never know if they are going to admit me or not. My bloodwork has been a little off the past month or so but today everything was completely back to normal. That is great news! CMV (cytomegalovirus) is gone finally....hopefully never to return. I had my PICC line removed which is a huge relief. The PICC line itself isn't annoying but just knowing it is there is a constant reminder of wasting 2 hours of my day every day hooked up to an IV bag. Oh well, it is now gone. Also found out one day next week I will be having another tube study completed on my T-tube (biliary drain) and hopefully getting it removed. That will mean that I am tube free and will have no legitimate restrictions on my activities. Not that I have any now, but at least then I will be cleared by the docs to do whatever I want without having to sneak around them. There is the update for this week! Hope you enjoy!

Whew!

Not a ton to write about lately. Been a rough past six weeks with 3 separate visits to the hospital. No major bumps in the road, just trying to "iron out some wrinkles" I suppose. I am currently still trying to get over my second bout with CMV (got my first negative today and hopefully will be off the IV meds next Tuesday). Seems that everything has hit at one time and that jinx i mentioned before bit me in the tail. Hopefully though, things are looking up and the hospital visits are coming to an end. Keep your fingers crossed and hopefully I'll be able to update a little more soon and with some more upbeat stories. Hope all is well with everyone.

Psychic

PICC Line

I knew it writing the last post that feeling that good wasn't going to last. That is why I threw out the "jinxing myself" disclaimer, hoping I was wrong. I wasn't by any means. Not only did I jinx myself but I managed to do it within 24 hours. That has to be some great accomplishment....Chris Angel couldn't even do that!

I spent last Wednesday night, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday morning at the good ol' Emory express once again. Felt great on Tuesday and all morning on Wednesday. Then like a ton of bricks about 2pm I became exhausted. When I say exhausted I mean couldn't hold my head up. I drove home already chilling from a fever to take some Tylenol praying that what I thought was happening was not. I woke up from about a 2 hour nap to find that my fever had gone down to 100.7 from a 102 at it's peak. I thought that I might be okay until 30 minutes later the fever was back up to 101.7 so I made the fun and exciting call to my surgeon who said for me to come on down and visit the ER. After packing 4 days worth of clothes and supplies, we walked into the ER looking like we were going on vacation. (I'm sure the people in the ER think we are crazy when we walk in with luggage. We know that when we visit, it's going to be an extended one.)

Long story short, missed 2 days of work with good ol CMV rearing it's ugly head again. Got a brand new picc line in my right arm (figured I would switch it up) for some home IV treatments. Read some magazines and books, watched some TV, got stuck with a few million needles, and got lots of sleep. Came home on Saturday morning and feeling fine.......at the moment anyways!

Still feeling good overall...just scared to say too much. You see what it got me last time. I still love my new liver though! (just in case it's listening)

6 Months

Today marked 6 months since I began a new relationship. Like all new relationships, it has been rocky at times and I still have moments when I wonder what I have gotten myself into. In these six months not once have I wished things to be any different. This new relationship has changed my life. We are both in this relationship until "death do us part" unless I have to find a new "friend", we both hope that doesn't have to happen though. Needless to say I am happy with where I stand and look forward to many more years together. I love my new liver!!

I am sure that it isn't a very important day to many and after this September 26th it probably will not be an important date to me. This particular 9/26 is important to me though. I have waited for this day because it marks a milestone for me. I had some goals set before and right after surgery for this day and I am happy to say that I have been able to meet all of those goals. Some met more than others but all were met. I did get to go on a small vacation (not the best), I am working out again, and I am back to work full time. It feels good to know that those goals were met at some time or another within six months of my transplant. I am still not working out at full tilt but I am on my way. I can honestly say, smiling as I type, that I feel better than anytime I can remember in my life. (I know I probably just jinxed myself and will be at Emory now.) I have so much more energy and a much more positive attitude. I attribute most of this of course to my new "friend" but also to cleaning up my diet and working out. For the first time in my life, I understand how people can love working out. I now have the energy to finish a workout and not be ready to crash. I also am a much happier person both inside and out! I can wake up with a smile in the morning and it be genuine because I feel good. I no longer have to paint on my smile in the morning while I brush my teeth and get ready for work. It just shows up every morning (well....most mornings). Six months and counting! My next milestone will be March 26, 2007 (one year). I will be setting some more goals over the next couple of days. Might just be a good topic for a future post. I am going to shoot high with these goals and do my best to attain them. May need some help from the cheering section for the goals to be met! Hope all is well with everyone who reads this and God bless you all! Happy 6 month anniversary to me!

Need some inspiration?

I stole this video off of a friend's page. It is the video of a father and sons journey through the CAN-triathalon. Thanks Julie.

Attitude

Made it through the weekend without another hospital stay which is saying a lot lately. I'm feeling really good today. I'm sore from starting a new workout on Saturday but I like the feeling. Well that's my update for today! Now on to more important things.

I read a motivational article that I read on Monday mornings that was about storms in life. In this article a man was sitting on his porch when an unexpected storm came up on a beautiful day. The storm wasn't forecast and when he checked the Doppler radar he saw that the storm was no where else in the tri-state area except over where he was. The storm hovered there for just a little while before it dissipated. Once it stopped, the air was clearer and the sun seemed to shine even brighter.

This made me think this morning of the things we all go through from time to time. Sometimes it seems that we are in a cartoon or like the guy in this article where that cloud seems to hang around and just follow us wherever we go. I believe that "tribulation worketh patience" and sometimes God puts us through trials in life so that we can draw closer to him. I believe there are times that through trials we are forced to get ourselves out of the way and lean on Him because we CAN'T do anything alone. I have been through my share of storms over the past years and I am sure that there are many storms ahead in my life.

With that said, I also believe we are directly responsible often times for that cloud lingering above our head. We have all heard that when we wake up in the morning we decide whether we are going to have a good day or a bad day. Lately, I have been more and more in agreement with that statement. Many times things happen in the morning or first thing in the day that put a sour note on that moment. At that moment we have the opportunity to let that negative thing go or hold on to it. I have been trying lately to let the negative things go and focus on the positive things that happen from day to day. There is always a reason to smile though sometimes it may be hard to find. When that cloud catches up with you, just let it go on by and don't make it hang around because of poor attitude or choices.

Storms come in life and sometimes they are hard to weather. We have all had times where we just wanted to give up. I have been there, not just once or twice, thinking why am I even fighting. There have been many times that there seemed to be no light at the end of my tunnel or no sunshine on my horizon. Eventually though all things passed and on the other side was a clearer perspective, a breath of fresh air, a reason to smile, and most importantly a victory. After going through a storm, I can often look back and draw strength from that experience and know that it helped better me a person and make me who I am today.

Before my surgery, I was worried about a lot of things: How was life going to be post-surgery? How would people look at me differently? Was my scar going to be large? Would I ever be able to do the things I love? I was scared to death. I wasn't scared of the surgery but was it worth going through if I had to change my life and not be able to do the things that I love doing. Looking back, all of that was foolish thinking. My life has definitely changed since the surgery but, honestly, I think it has made me a better person. I now wear my scar proudly! I am self-conscious about it but not because of what people will think of me, but because I do not like the attention that it garners. Life is much the same now, I get to hang out with my friends when I get the chance, the people who care about me treat me just the same, and I am slowly getting back to doing the things I enjoy.

All of this comes along with a new perspective on life, enjoying every day that I get, and enjoying the smell of life after a good storm. Everything is fresh and clean. I know there is another storm ahead and many more after that one but I look forward to the sunshine and clean feeling that comes from getting out of each one.

"Every day may not be good, but there is something good in every day." - Author Unknown