A Different Kind of Transplant

     I am so happy to announce that I WILL be teaching again in the fall!  I am "easing in" by doing only one hour a day and my current placement is at the middle school level. So much for "easing in!"  I'm somewhat nervous about teaching an age group and curriculum I have no experience with-- despite a decade a teaching experience, I will be the "greenest" staff member in more ways than one. 

5 Unexpected Physical Changes Post Transplant

Here is a list of physical changes that have become a part of my post-transplant life. Most of them are unexpected and seemingly unrelated to having healthy lungs, based on my limited medical knowledge. If one of you is a health professional or a fellow lung recipient and wants to chime in on the list below, please do so!

1.  Dandruff

Prior to the transplant, I could have been the "before" guy in a Head & Shoulders commercial. Sometimes even my eyebrows would have dandruff. Gross, I know!  But post transplant, no dandruff at all. None.  

2.  Chapped Lips

Another frequent issue I dealt with before the transplant was chapped lips. Just like with the dandruff issue, despite using products to help, it was still a problem. But not any more, at all, ever. 

3.  Grey Hair

I've talked about this before, but it seems like, even though my mom went completely grey by age 35, the sudden shift between no grey (especially in my facial hair) and bunches of it seems too coincidental. 

4.  Noisy Breathing

For many years prior to the transplant, when I slept, I wild often make noises as I exhaled. Mostly these sounded like moans and groans-- I wasn't talking in my sleep or something.  Other times I would make chewing noises during my slumber.   My wife made a recording of it once to make me aware of how loud it was.  Since the transplant, I don't make any of those noises-- but now I snore sometimes... at least it's a "normal" annoying sleep noise!

5.  Leg Hair Disappeared... then Came Back!

During the span of several months, the hair on my outer calves of both legs completely disappeared and then came back in full force. It looked like I had deliberately shaved it. My wife noticed it one day, and I realized that I wasn't sure when it started. I know it wasn't an occurrence that immediately happened after the transplant, but apparently it gradually occurred over some period of time. I forgot to show my doctor at one of my visits and ask her about it, and by the time I saw her again about two months later, all of it had grown back. I asked her about it and she just shook her head. I get it-- what's the point in trying to solve unimportant hair mysteries when everything that matters about my health is going so well?  

Six Images Say So Much

The first three images are from a year ago, when I left my house after getting the call, a photo of me post-op, and the reaction I had to arriving at home after twenty days in the hospital...

The next three images capture my transplant anniversary:  placing a candle in the water off Mackinac Island in honor of my donor and his or her family, my son's drawing on the paper tablecloth when we dined at The Woods restaurant, and an image of he and I as we traveled to the island on the ferry. 

I am so incredibly fortunate and forever grateful for the life I have. 

This is a Picture of Progress

It's been quite a journey, and I think a huge part of the reason for how successful it's been has been my attitude. The picture on the left is from the first day I was fully awake and able to move to the chair, a mere four days after the surgery. 

One year down, many more to go...

Transplant-aversary

     On Wednesday, August 20, 2014, I got "the call."  And on Thursday, August 20, 2015, my wife, son, and my mom and dad will celebrate the year that has been possible because of the successful surgery that began that night and continued long into the next morning.  Our plan is to go to Mackinac Island, largely because that is a place my wife and I would go every year.  We understandably put that tradition aside for the past two years.  My mom and dad will join us for the first time; neither of them have been to the island in over 30 years.  We do all this in lieu of celebrating something meaningful in the life of my donor and donor family.  

The Worst Day of My Life (Now with Context!)

     Below is an e-mail I sent to some friends on Thursday, October 5, 2000.  I had been attending Eastern Michigan University for a little over a month.  The subject line was "My Worst Day."

----

      Yesterday, I woke up. That was my first mistake. In a comedy of errors, I was lucky enough to experience the worst day of my life up to this point, and I can't imagine any day being much worse. Although, that's what I kept saying yesterday, figuring the day could only get better after each setback.

Winning

     Typically when my son says, "Let's race," I do, because what better use for these new lungs than seeing if I can get to that tree up ahead faster than my seven year old?

     But yesterday it was I who initiated a contest when I saw a web-like section of the play structure near the beach by our campsite. "Do you want to see who can climb to the top the fastest?"

 

     "Sure, Dad."

     Clearly I lost, but when I compete with my son, I always feel like I'm victorious.