New Year's Eve; 2014. The Day we Got The Call

New Year's Eve, 2014, my Sweetie and I were watching our granddaughter before dropping her off at a sleep over.  We had planned on stopping by our favorite hangout and visit with some friends after dropping off our granddaughter.

Plans changed at just about straight up 6:00 that evening. A member of my Transplant Team called and said they might have a set of lungs for me. We experienced a 'Dry Run' in November, made it all the way to pre-op before they decided the lungs were not acceptable. This time was not quite a frantic as the first, but it was still a very emotional trip to the hospital.  We grabbed out "Go" bag, dropped our granddaughter off at a friends, and headed to Dallas.

I've been reading through my journals from those days just before and after my transplant. Here is what I posted in one to let my friends know what was going on:

12-31-2014, 10:16 PM 

Here we go again  

Life on the list. Received 'The Call' at 6:00 PM and am back at the hospital waiting to see if these lungs are acceptable.  

The doctor stopped by after I typed the above. It really looks like this is going to be a go. It sounds like the donor was fairly young. Please think of the family in you thoughts and prayers.

As we all know, yes, these lungs were much more than acceptable. Turns out they are pretty awesome.

This is us, waiting to find out if we were going to go to the OR, or go home.

01-01-2015, 04:39 AM 

Thanks everyone. Right now it looks like I am scheduled for 8:00 this morning.

And then my first post with my new lungs:

01-04-2015, 05:51 PM 

The procedure was a success I'm still in a lot of pain, but improving hourly

And improve I did. Yep, there have been a couple of setbacks, but that is just part of Life With New Lungs. Three steps forward, two steps back. I'm still working on my most recent issue, but I think this one should be resolved soon.

I look at that image of my Sweetie and I with mixed emotions. We were excited at the prospect of a new life with new lungs. We had hope for the future and we look happy. At the same moment a family was having one of the worst days of their lives. My donor family lost a loved one on New Year's Eve and the holidays will never be the same for them again. I think of them often and hope that they receive some comfort in knowing that their loved one has helped so many others.

On what has to be one of the worst days of their lives, in the midst of their grief while the whole world celebrated New Year's Eve, my donor family made the decision to offer the gift of life to myself and others.

I can't think of a more selfless and wonderful gift.

New Year's Resolution? I really don't have anything to resolve.  I try to live my life in gratitude to my donor family and take the best care I can of their precious gift.

I can't express my appreciation for what they have done for me, and for my family. I think of my donor, and my donor family each and every day. They are special.