6 month lungiversary.

It's been six months since I was wheeled into surgery, going down the hall, waving hi, and bye, and nice to "meet" you to a fellow CF'er, A who had been transplanted a year and a half earlier.

I told my family to stop crying, suck it up, I'll be fine! waved goodbye, and said 'see ya on the other side'. I was wheeled into the operating room, and left talking to my anesthesiologist telling him my allergies to specific IV tapes, etc., and other nurses (who told me I would get my earrings back after the operation...I'm still waiting on that one. At least I got my glasses back! ha)

I remember waking up and remember being told just let the machine do the work for you. So I did. I tried not to panic, and just let this big thing in my mouth do the breathing for me. As my chest slowly rose and fell. It was hard breathing through that mouth intubator piece machine ordeal. I remember slipping in and out of sleep every couple of minutes. I don't even know how my ICU nurse knew I was awake, as my eyes were barely even open slits, and I certainly could not talk. My chest felt heavy, swollen, and I was totally drugged up. Out of my mind. It felt like there were multiple piles of bricks on my chest. It was so hard to breath through the machine, intubator because a. it's a tiny little tube that I think is down my throat, somehow making my chest breathe, so I'm fighting to breathe through that, PLUS they turned the machine down so that I'm doing like 90% of the work, while breathing through this smaller airway opening, so that they can make sure that my lungs will work on their own without the machine...it's not a very good measurement since it is SO much harder when they turn the machine down, almost off, yet you have this intubated tube still shoved down your throat.

Anyways I'm not sure where I was going with that little rant, but alas, it was my 6 month assessment this week. It went fairly well. My lung function was down a bit to 53% so they were worried that I might have rejection or infection. Results are in and I do not have rejection, I repeat I do NOT have rejection! WOO.

Infection takes a couple more days to get back, since they have to grow the biopsies from the bronchoscopy in a petree dish. I guess I was being lazy that day doing the breathing test? Hopefully in two weeks time my lung function is back up!

I also did my six minute walk test. I doubled my meters from October! I did 532, verses my measly 200 meters back in October at my 3 month assessment. 700 is 'normal' for someone my height and who has not gone through a lung operation. So almost there!

They also gave me the go ahead to start travelling in the US and Canada. First trip up, is out west in February! I'm uber pumped. I'm getting antsy to bust out these new lungs in the world.

ALSO another fun fantastic super neat thing...I ran a city block last weekend and tonight I ran up the movie theatre stairs (5 months ago, my physiotherapist on the ward, said, okay lets try the stairs, and I early fell over, he basically carried me up the flight of stairs, I was so weak...today... running up those babies...no big deal) and in to the building.

Finally at about 5 1/2 months my legs stopped aching and hips stopped pounding. They feel almost completely normally.

6 months and counting!