Saturday!

Good evening everyone! First of all I owe you guys an apology, I totally had a blonde moment in yesterday’s blog. I have no idea why I titled last nights blog “3 Week Lunganniversary.” It’s been over three weeks since we’ve had our transplant, but yesterday marked a week since I’ve been discharged. So I apologize for the confusion.

It’s crazy to think today is the last day of February. This has been one AMAZING month! Definitely one for the memory books!

I was a little on the luggish side this morning. Woke up about 8:00 am did my morning routine, ate breakfast and then laid back down on the couch. Next thing I knew I was fast asleep! Slept for several hours. Finally woke up headed for the shower, and then began my day. The sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky, but the wind was nippy! Oh well that didn’t slow me down! Kerry and I bundled up and ventured outside. We rode the S.L.U.T (South Lake Union Trolly you can even buy a t-shirt that says “I rode the S.L.U.T, which just cracks me up!) to downtown Seattle. The streets were crowded with people! So I was a little nervous being around others, and especially someone bumping into me. But I’m happy to say I wore my mask and we navigated the streets safely. We stopped in a couple shopping stores, but mostly did a lot of window shopping. We walked around for close to two hours! The only time I sat down was of course on the Trolly, and also while we were waiting for the Trolly to pick us up! I trucked up and down the hills like a champ! No shortness of breath, no coughing it was great! Well it’s kind of funny some of the looks you get when you wear a mask out in public. Honestly I really don’t care! I am very grateful for my gift, and will do whatever I have to, to protect them! It was starting to get late so Kerry and I hoped back onto the S.L.U.T and it took us right back to our hotel. When we arrived home my mom had chicken tacos waiting for us. Boy they tasted good!!

When Kerry and I ventured out my parents decided not to join us, they hung out at the hotel. Anyways during dinner they were telling us one of the float planes landed out on South Lake and then flipped over! The pilot and passenger got out safely and unharmed. But we all looked at each other and thought we might rethink taking a float plane tour! Yikes! Glad they were okay.

After dinner I got the chance to catch up with my Aunt D, and check in on my four legged furry children. I sure do miss her and my children! We will see them soon, in the meantime they are in good hands and I know she is enjoying their company as well.

Dani posted a great question on our website, and I would like to take the time to answer it tonight. She writes “Do you want to meet your donor’s family when it’s allowed?” Yes!!! It would be a very emotional experience but to be able to say “Thank you” to the donor family would be incredible. We have the paperwork to start that process. We have to fill it out, write a letter or card to the donor family. We can’t include our last names, and any contact information. Once we have everything completed we mail our letter or card to LifeCenter Northwest which is located in Bellevue, Washington. They review all your information and letter, and then they reach out to the donor family let them know the double lung recipient would like to contact them. Then the donor family decides if they would like to have contact with you or not. I have heard from other transplant patients their donor families reply right away because it helped them through the grieving process, while I met a gentlemen it took his donor family 12 years to respond to his letter. So would I eventually love to meet my donor family and say thank you, oh gosh a millions times yes! But would I be satisfied just to hear from donor family, yes I would!

Well it’s 9:00 time to take my Tacrolimus and do my nightly routine. Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

Until next time……..

~Jen~
“Just Breathe”