We're back!

Oh nback in a big way, here at The Resort...
Discharge on Friday, and felt OK. Spent the night at my parents--well most of it--before driving back to my apartment. Sat. was spent relaxing, napping and trying to work off the drug side effects from Thurs./Fri. I made a coffee cake, did a little bit of cleaning (as in throwing away old mail), organized some books, and watched Season 3 of Desperate Housewives. Since I had to sing 8:30 I went to bed around11.
WEll that didn't work because I got very suddeny, very severe chest pains. Which necessitated a call to the powers that be, which led to an appearance in the ER at 1:00 a.m.I was put in a chair and immediately taken back to the "critical care rooms", which are just stocked with every medical goody known to man. I had my port accessed, blood drawn, supplemental oxygen given, BP cuff, vitals every like 15 minutes. I got some dilaudid via IV and a CXR was taken. CT wants a scaned with contrast, which meant the lovely hurt for a peripheral, which eneded up in my thum. We got the pictures, not as clear as we would've liked b/c we used a very small guage needle (all my veins could handle without blowing), so then it was back toa regular ER room while they made room for me up on C5.
We got up to C5 around 6. I had the lovely Medical Resident take my history and drug list, then the nurse came in w/ more dilaudid. At this point I think I slept for maybe 45 minutes. Dad was still with me. NO sleeping. But we did watch most of Spanglish, which is a movie we enjoy.
Sunday was spent basically throwing up everything I ate. So we did ativan for that, which I didn't know you could use for nausea, but it worked. It also gave me the sleep I hadn't had in, oh, 20 some hours. Wooohoo! Dr. A comes in today around 10:30 and tells my nurse he can't wake me up. Elizabeth says, "she only fell asleep at 3 and hasn't slept for about 36 hours."
Basically today was about pain/nauseau management. There is a pneumnonia going on and we're doing an IV drug as well as the oral levoquin. I"m a wee bit nauseous right now but nothing like yesterday. Ugh. HOpefully bile stays where it belongs. We're doing oral pain meds every 12 with tylenol in between if I need it. I just want to sleep normally tonight.
Ian went home early this morning but we got to see him on Sunday. He looked really good and so adorable. His new sister (Sophia) is due in November! I bet his sisters will be so happy to have him home. And my friend Kennedy (another heart t/x) is also on the floor now after coming out of the CICU. So there are friends here. Yay!
All right that's your update. I've been reading a ton of magazines, as usual, and sort of watched the Steelers win yesterday (Oh happy day!).

Back

Well apparently the visit to Shangri-la turned into a sleepover! Ha!
I went in on Thursday and while the numbers were all stable, I was still having some symptoms--rattling in my chest, increased cough, a wee bit short of breath. And, of course, chest pain (which I know and love...ha). Dr. A looked at my CXR and said that if I wasn't having any symptoms, he'd probably say it was normal looking (or at least stable), but since I was having some issues, it would be best to bronch and see what's happening.
So off to the bronch suite we went! Pretty normal there, and we did find some buggies in the initial findings, so Dr. A didn't know if we'd want to do IV drugs or orals--it would depend on what grew out over the next 24 hours. So I stayed the night, getting IV drugs (well, one) and oral antibiotics. I also got the lovely dilaudid/phenergan combo (whoever was the doc on call last night REALLY loved me. :-D), but I'm doing OK now.
I was dischraged around 4ish, and it's all oral antibiotics so yay! I go back in on Monday for another CXR and blood work.
Had some excellent nurses (like always), and overall not too bad a stay. I won't go so far as to say it was "enjoyable" but it wasn't like being in Hell for 36 hours. :)
My little buddy Ian (heart t/x) and his mom were also on the floor when I was there, so I got to see them today which was fun. Ian is the sweetest little guy and he finally gets to go home on Monday! Yay!

Fall is here!

Today was the first real fall day in Central Ohio--perfect for an Easton trip and football! I bought a great outfit at Ann Taylor, enjoyed some shopping and a Fado lunch with Richelle and Christine, and had dinner with my parents. Overall a great day (with Buckeye Victory...). I just love fall.
Appointment w/ Dr. A and Dr. H this week on Thursday, so look for updates...

Also, pray for my little transplant buddies, Ian and Kennedy. Kennedy just had another heart transplant, and she's only 5 or 6! She's a trooper. Ian also had a heart transplant awhile ago, but he's in the hospital now. He's a sweetheart, so I want him to get better. :)

Support groups

Last week a few of the transplant families from Children's got together to have our first "support group" meeting, and I have to say, it was fun, probably because it didn't involve sitting around talking about "our feelings, " which would have been hard to do, given the group make-up.

There were two recipients: me, and then a 15 mo. old heart tx, who was just sooo adorable. He was 3 mo. old when he received his transplant, and he's just so cute. Love him. His mom and two older sisters were there with him. My parents had come with me, and the day had been organized by the mom of a heart-lung recipient, who was also around 3 months (I think) when he was transplanted. She brought her new baby, who was also very adorable. So, as you can guess, I was happy because there were a lot of cute kids.

We met in the library of the Ronald McDonald House (which is awesome...it has a reading room, a play room, a living room, all sorts of things. The kitchen was super-cool and very high-tech. There was, of course, a room totally devoted to the Buckeyes (well, it did say "In Honor of Jim Tressel" on the plaque outside, so you know...). But the library really needs some better adult books. I think I need to take care of that!

Anyway, we talked about how we got to the point of transplant, and some random things, like how the moms get their boys to take the drugs (I have a hard time with some of them--the predinose, for example, just tastes gross, and there are some days where I am sorely tempted just to spit it out.), activity, stuff like that. It was pretty general but a lot of fun. I wish Amber could've been there but 1) she was in Miami (lucky dog) and 2) it would've been a long drive for her since she lives upstate. The rest of us live in the general Central OH area.

But it was fun and I got the contact info. for everyone so hopefully we will be meeting again. Sorry to cut this short, but I'm having my 25th birthday shindig with my friends tonight in...oh....a half hour, and I need to get ready!! Eek! At least the cake is baked....yummy. :)

Oh, and I got my Donate Life plates! They are on my car and look awesome! If you live in Ohio be sure to go tot he BMV and ask for them ! They are $15 extra with $5 going to the Ohio Second Chance Trust Fund to raise awareness of organ and tissue donation throughout the state. Lifeline's website (link in the blogroll) has a link to the BMV, so go!