Snaps of Us

ust let me say you how excited I am for Miss Brittany Ciara and the fabulous bash she is hosting this week. I haven't written in so long, and this is just what I needed to jump back in to the blogosphere. To my regular readers and followers: I have been on vacay for about two weeks and was home for two days before I got to go on another trip to the ER, so here I am writing from the luxury of a hospital bed. Hopefully, I will get to go home tomorrow. Enough about all that bull honkey and on to the fun stuff...

{ My Intro. Post }

I am a 25 year-old mother, wife, and teacher. My baby boy will be one in three days! My husband and I met when I was student teaching and he was already teaching and coaching. I received a heart transplant in October following a short bout of peripartum cardiomyopathy. I started out with a Caring Bridge page and decided to expand to a blog after I had so many subscribe to the CB page. I was approved for lifelong SS Disability in March, so I will not be returning to teaching anytime soon. I love my job so much as you can see here, I just can't stay away.

{1} Why do you blog?

I began blogging because, as I mentioned above, I had so many friends, family, and folks that I have never met writing me and inquiring about my condition. I absolutely fell in love with the community and the opportunity to reach other heart patients and friends and family of heart patients. I had no clue that I would meet so many friends other fabulous gals. I soon realized I wanted to do a little more, like the Book Nook and Grammar on the Go. I have also transferred my Caring Bridge entries to the Transplant Times section that begin with the fear and horror of my condition all to my nearly complete recovery following the transplant.

{2} What do you blog about?

I am probably one of the most random bloggers that you will come across. However, I am sure that every blogger probably thinks that about themselves. I blog about my post transplant adventures, the transition from working full-time to SAHM, being a newlywed, raising a baby, taking care of a new pup. I even talk about my small shopping problem, love of gadgets, and a weight battle.

{3} What do you find to be the most rewarding thing about blogging?

I always found even keeping a private journal was rewarding, when I made time to do it. Blogging has been so rewarding because of the instant feedback and the communities. Plus, you get to share pics, video, and music in context with what you share. Plus, there is the added "high" of helping others' causes!

{4} How long have you been blogging?

As part of a senior college assignment I had to post a weekly blog of my observation experiences in the schools. About three years later I decided to blog in the the real world, and I started a new blog where I would post about my daily life: teaching, mothering, etc.  Before I even wrote my first post I became ill and was admitted to the hospital. I didn't return home until three months later. Needless to say, that would later add fuel to my bloggy fodder. I began writing here in January 2010.

{5} Let's hear the story behind your blog title!

This is actually my second title and second blog for that matter. My first blog that I wrote under was titled "Cardiocandyography." Cardio = heart related...candy = something sweet...ography = related to writing. When Ellie was installing my amazing blog template and layout, there was an issue with one of the free wallpapers that I had installed at one point, and I had to create an entirely new blog and quickly think of a title so that she could go ahead and install the template. "Cardiocandyography" had become a bit cumbersome and difficult to share with friends and family. I am till trying to think of a great tagline/blog title. My twitter handle is HeartHunnyBe; I am thinking of maybe using that somehow.( Be has been my life long nickname.)

Steroids, Dust, & Kenny Chesney

Today I am participating in Mama M.'s Five Question Friday for the first time. Head on over to Five Crooked Halos to read more responses to 5QF, then join in yourself!

1. Have you ever had a celeb sighting?
• When I was a senior in high school, Kenny Chesney came into the department store where a friend and I were working as fragrance models for the weekend. He had on sunglasses, a hat, sweatshirt, and gym shorts. In other words, we didn't recognize him; even though we were going to his concert that night. Oops. He came up to the counter with his little entourage, which just looked like a group of average guys. We were telling them about the fragrance, of course they were flirting a bit: typical charmers. =) All we cared about was selling the stuff, so we flirted back then offered them some samples. When I asked about how many they needed, one of them responded, "Counting the band and crew, probably about 13." I was bent over getting the samples out of the drawer, and my friend was tapping me and nudging me with her knee whispering, "That's Kenny Chesney. That's Kenny Chesney!" Sure was and we didn't have a camera to prove it to everyone else that was going with us that night. So what do we do: literally run down to the Target and buy one - but wait! As we were leaving to do that, one of the regular saleswomen told us that she probably had what we needed. She pulled out a Tommy Hilfiger disposable camera from an old men's fragrance gift set underneath her register. When they came back through on their way out, we asked if we could get some pictures with them, and of course, they obliged. We all headed outside and took photos in front of the shrubbery - the camera didn't have a flash. By the way, Kenny came up to my shoulder: it was Bethany and her pet Kenny.
2. At what temperature do you keep your house?
• It definitely varies. Before I was on Prednisone, I was pregnant. Interpretation: it's been quite chilly in here for about a year. My body temperature is way higher on the Prednisone than when I was preggers. Even in this 40 degree weather, it was still around 65 in here. 
• Funny story - well, it's funny now, barely - but it wasn't then. The first night that I moved back up to the Transplant Unit from ICU after surgery, they started the iv steroids. I had severe shakes and the hot flashes of a lifetime. I felt like I was on fire and started to panic because I couldn't breath. Enter SuperNurse! Dace had been my nurse on and off throughout my two month stay, and he was my nurse that night. He found a high-powered tabletop fan and sat it on my food table/tray and aimed it right on me. Then, he went and filled up some Ziplocs with ice and put them in the palms of my hands, and that's how I slept. Did I ever get cold? Nope. At the time, I probably would have been annoyed, but now I wish I had a picture of how "rigged-up" I looked that night. I felt like a human sacrifice. Knowing that I couldn't get up and run if I to, freaked me out as well. I know, but it's crazy the stuff you think about when you spend that much time in a bed. That would have been hilasterous: me...scooting down the hall for more ice...3 stomach tubes, 2 sets of pacing wires, a catheter box-thing (TMI, I know), and a dangling PICC line, in tow.
3. Do you notice dust at other peoples' homes?
• Rarely, it would have to be really bad. I am the one with the dust problem: it's a daily battle that I cannot figure out, especially without any pets inside anymore.
4. What's the worst job you ever had?
• Honestly, I can say that I have never had a bad job. The most boring had to be when I worked as a trade-out a gym three hours a week: longest three hours of my life.
5. What is your most sentimental possession?
• Oh my, this is very difficult. I keep everything that is even slightly tied to a memory. I have several sentimental items, but probably now the most precious is the locket Zac gave me for my birthday when I was in New Orleans. Read about it here.

Battle of the Book Nooks + a Self-Portrait

    
     Supah's All About MEme Monday assignment is to post a self portrait created by yourself. Since I haven't turned the camera on myself for a couple of years, I sifted through all of my iPhoto files and found this one taken on Memorial Day 2007 after finishing my student teaching, pre-married life, pre-baby Foo, pre-heart failure, and pre-transplant. Plus, Shell's post inspired me to post a "look how nice and defined things used to be" photo. ;) By the way, no I wasn't naked! I had untied the strings of my navy and white stripped sundress and plopped down on the hotel bed. As a matter of fact, I wish you could see the dress: it was perfect resort wear. I will wear it again, I will wear it again, I will wear it again... (mantra-like) It was the cutest little sundress. We were at the Grand Hotel in Point Clear, about an hour's drive from where I live. 

Maybe this pic will better help you understand how irate I was this day (10/24).

*~*Next Topic*~* 

     As I promised a few days ago, here's how the trip to NOLA went: I got there relatively early for a change. I was so excited to chill-out, browse some blogs, order a movie, and pizza. By the way, the pizza is doctor's orders: I have a tendency not to drink enough fluids and that can make biopsies very difficult for me and the cardiologist, so by eating my more than average amount of sodium I retain water and thus making the vein in my neck easier to push the catheter through. Those of you that know about heart caths have typically heard of them going through the groin, but going through the neck is apparently much easier and you are up and out of there as soon as they are done. Anyway, back on topic, there is a hotel attached to the hospital that makes everything much easier. When I stepped up to the front desk and asked for a single room for one night, I got, "We do not have anything available for tonight." Oops. This place is NEVER booked, and I have NEVER had to have a reservation. Who wants to stay at a hotel adjoined to a hospital unless they are a patient or family? Well, apparently there was some sort of conference going on that day. I felt sort of lost there all by my lonesome. So, I dragged all my junk into the atrium and pulled out Baby Mac and hit up Expedia and Priceline for the closest hotels with the lowest rates and WiFi: yes, I had to have it. God bless technology. 


     I rang the Marriott Courtyard down the road and they had plenty of "room at the inn." I ventured back out into the torrential NOLA rains, and scooted on down the river highway to the Marriott. I timed it, only six minutes down the road! My room was very neat and quaint with a little balcony over-looking the pool. Too bad it was nearly a monsoon outside. I fell back on to the bed and...hello, memory foam. This night was going to be just fine. 


     I ordered a Papa John's Tuscan Cheese pizza and watched Law & Order then Couple's Retreat, and in case you were wondering the pizza was by far best of the three. Maybe it was because I had not so much as tasted a pizza in at least six months, but the movie wasn't so great either. I ♥ Vince, but this was a bomb. It was very tough to keep my eyes open. 


     The next morning I went on to lab as usual, picked up a scone, and strolled on over to the cath lab, were they took me right on back. Dr. Fisher was there to biopsy rather than my regular doc, Dr. Mandras. I was good to him again. He was the cardiologist on-call in the days surrounding my transplant, so it was great to see him again since that was the last time that I saw him. This was the first time I was attempting a heart cath/biopsy without taking any anti-anxiety or pain meds ahead of time. The needle and numbing of the neck wasn't was tough as usual, but apparently I have developed a lot of scar tissue in my chest that made the introduction of the catheter extremely painful. They continued to give me something, what it was I do not know. It did not help the pain, and when I sat up to leave, I was exhausted. I was even little wobbly walking back over to meet with Moriah for my clinic check-up. After chatting with her and checking all of my numbers, I moseyed on over to the MRI building, which I didn't realize was a little walk outside then to a mobile MRI trailer building. I guess they are remodeling or something because this is a nice hospital. Anyway, it was a regular MRI so my nose nearly touched the top of the thing, and I guess that they made some adjustments for momma hips. I fell right to sleep for however long it took.


     After I emerged from the pod-thing, I went straight to the coffee shop in the Atrium to get a White Gold (compare to a Starbucks White Chocolate Mocha). I called hubs and told him I fell a little "slow" and that I was just going to relax in the atrium for a little bit. He got all nervous and said that he didn't want me driving. I didn't exactly feel like it either so we agreed it would be best for me to stay another night. Luckily, my regular hotel now had rooms available, but not until 3:00 p.m. It was noon. 

     To kill the time until I could check in, I went to fill a prescription for an antibiotic that I had to have to treat a little splinter infection, and pick up a few snacks. On my way, I decided to stop by Border's Books. I had never been in one before. We have a couple of Books-A-Millions and a couple of Barnes & Nobles, but no Borders. I loved it. Of course, Barnes & Noble will always be my true love and I cannot stand Books-A-Million simply because it lacks that aesthetic that encourages reading. I walk into a Barnes & Noble and you just want to read. You walk in a Books-A-Million and I want de-clutter and start cleaning. I will go to Books-A-Million for little random funny gifts, i.e. magnets, pens, stationery, gift books, stickers, etc., and I will escape as quickly as I can. 

Borders is the happy medium. 

It has the delightful reading aesthetic, plus the large gift and knick-knack/impulsive shopper section. 

Did I mention the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves? I felt like Belle!

This is a former funeral home that they have recently turned into a Borders. I couldn't ever got an actual photo to post on here because the traffic wouldn't cooperate, but here is a Google photo. The colors and exterior are the same, but of course it has a Borders banner hanging across the porch and no chain-link fence. Isn't it great?! Apparently, Borders has been doing restorative projects across the country rather than building from the ground up. Cool, huh?

Now it's your turn to VOTE 

In my sidebar, directly under my profile, I have posted a poll. Let's see what true fan favorite is! You can select more than one because if you are like me, you have a favorite local, privately owned store and a favorite chain.

Ahh, the charming Page & Palette

     So, needless to say I had a peaceful night's rest; I slept in, made a few routine stops, did some wishful-window-shopping and headed home to my boys.

Post-It Note Tuesday!

To Tweet or Not to Tweet

Yesterday I cruised on over to NOLA for my monthly biopsy, echo, and clinic visit. Rather than staying in the hotel the night before, I decided to drive over early in the morning because I did not feel like the whole packing/unpacking deal. Well, let me tell you. I needed an industrial crane to keep my eyelids open nearly the whole two hours over. 

♦ Two Reminders ♦ 

• The morning of labs you are NPO from midnight the night before until after your labs are drawn: usually around 8:00 a.m. NPO = no food or drink (nothing per oral) 
• Prednisone (steroid) wires you, keeps you awake, prevents any hopes of an early bedtime - Those of you that have kept up with my CB from the beginning know of my sleeping horrors. Even though my dose has been drastically reduced, my sleeping patterns are still completely unpredictable, and I never know when I will fall asleep.

Of course I did not fall asleep until around 1:00 a.m. Monday night and I had to get up at  a little after 4:00 a.m. and be on the road by 5:45 a.m. with no fuel...in my body. i.e. no coffee, no PowerBar. Plus, it was dark for the first hour of the drive. I was really nervous about falling asleep, but my hubby called to check on me a little before seven and that helped wake me up. 

When I got to the lab, it was slammed! I have never seen that many people waiting for labs. I waited for 45 minutes which left me only 30 minutes to find something to eat. Typically this would not be an issue; however, Stacy (Mandras), my main cardiologist, suggested that I eat something heavy and salty the nights before biopsies because the excess water make the vein in which they insert the catheter in my neck much easier to navigate. I also have to have enough time for the anti-anxiety medication to kick in before the procedure. For some reason, my neck is especially sensitive to everything they to do to prep for the procedure. This is very unusual because needles do not bother me, and medical procedures in general do not bother me. Anyway, that is why I have to take an anti-anxiety meds on biopsy days. Immediately after lab, I ran down to Zucchini, the hospital cafe, and had some sausage, bacon, and cheese grits. It was like a little vacation from bland and doctors orders. =) 

The procedure went well and even though I have been feeling some different feelings around my heart everything looked fine on the echo. I will have to wait on the biopsy results for more details if there are any, and if everything looks good then I can come down on the steroids again. Yippee! 

As I was getting was getting my stuff together and chatting with the girls in the cath lab, Dr. Mandras was watching me while I was talking about my blogs and my Go Red group that I am trying to raise money through. They all told me how good I looked, how amazing it is, etc. Then Dr. Mandras looked me square in the eye and said, “I lost sleep over you...I was scared to death.” Then she began to tear up, couldn’t speak, and began wiping her eyes. She just rushed over and hugged me. This was funny because she about a whole head shorter than me; we giggled. How lucky am I to have such an amazing staff holding my heart in their hands? They are amazing from the top down: the attendings, the fellows, the nurses… I also got to see the other members of the transplant team that have worked so closely with me: Patel, Alkadri, Ventura. They are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!! They are like family to me now. I never thought that I would feel so comfortable with a bunch of cardiologists. I discuss books, writing, and education with Patel, movies with Alkadri, and hair, journals, and food with Mandras. Oh, and I didn’t to leave out the P.A.s: I ♥ you, Moriah! 

Upon leaving the hospital I decided to hit the quarter and enjoy the weather. Though I didn’t make it far (my boots were pinching), I soaked in every minute of it. I dipped in Peaches, the last true record store; Urban Outfitters, cannot believe I walked out empty-handed, a true sign of increasing self control; and Hard Rock for fajitas. I am usually not a big Hard Rock fan since it is typically food I can get anywhere, but it was by far the cleanest and the cool breeze just blew me right into their open doors. (I still have to be uber careful about germs.) Let me just say, those were the best fajitas that I have ever had! I do not know what they sauteed the onions and meat in, but it was divine and probably loaded with sodium. It’s ok to cheat for a day every once in a while. 

After being in the hospital for three months, careful watched for two, and a few weekend stays, I have begun to relish those moments on my own. It was such an incredible feeling just strolling down the street yesterday in a hat, cute outfit, and boots - not pj’s and slippers. I could have walked for hours. Next time I will have to remember to slip some Dr. Scholl’s in those boots so that I may extend my stay. 


I go back tomorrow for a neurology appointment and hitting up some antique stores and markets for some dirt cheap home decor. I am trying to warm this place up a bit; it’s coming along slowly but surely. 

To tweet or not to tweet? I am thinking of joining the masses. Do you like it or is it all a bunch of hoopla? 

The Poor Man's Plastic Surgery

Monday is the first day of February, and since I have gotten this blog fairly well established I am going to take a big step here and let you in on something. When I read Christina Lee’s post today, it was screaming at me to get my butt in gear as well, especially since I am supposed to living healthy by doctor’s orders anyway! Since I am starting in February, maybe I will have a higher success rate. I have never succeeded at a diet plan except for the week that I was on Nutrisystem a couple of summers ago. Notice that I said “week,” but I did lose 7 lbs. I only have about 25 lbs. to lose to be completely happy, but I really want to get toned this time, too.

Several people have asked me why I would still have to follow a heart-healthy diet, since I have a new heart. Well, I am sure that you have heard of coronary artery disease (CAD) via commercials for heart medicine, if not somewhere else; it is the leading cause of death worldwide! CAD is what causes heart attacks. Transplant patients are at risk for coronary artery vasculopathy (CAV). Which is the same as CAD, but due to the denervation of the heart during transplant her or she cannot feel the warning signs of CAV until it is too late: chest pains, shortness of breath, etc. During transplant, all of your nerves are not reconnected, only major arteries. Next to malignancy, this is the leading cause of death in transplant patients because since you cannot feel anything going on it leads to sudden death and progressive heart failure. The chance of this happening during the first year after transplant is around 15% - 20%, and 50% - 60% five years out. 

CAV is the reason I have to keep up a heart-healthy diet with a new heart; it’s a precaution since I won’t know if anything is going wrong in there. Also, in addition to CAV, because of the immunosuppressants (anti-rejection drugs) I have an increased risk of developing diabetes. Also, the prednisone (a steroid) causes major sweet cravings that can of course lead to diabetes. 

So...on Monday I will be getting back on as strict of a diet as I was on in the weeks following transplant in addition to beginning cardiac rehab and some pilates. In cardiac rehab, I will simply be walking on a treadmill while being closely monitored. I took a pilates class my last in college for a P.E. credit. I really liked it and what it did for my body. Plus, it’s not too strenuous on my sternum. 

I am going to start keeping a blog of my activities, weight loss, etc. Although I will probably post it on a new separate blog. We’ll see how the weekend goes, and I will post the link if and when I do. I know all of you are probably not that interested, but those of you that are we can keep up with each other and our progress that way. 

Ok...let's do this thing!

Crossing the Caring Bridge

Here I am blogging as there are four, yes four baskets of laundry to be folded; I tend to procrastinate. However, I have gotten all of the Christmas put up and away, and now my spare bedroom door can stay open! My hubby mounted the shelves I got for Christmas! They need a few more touches then I will post before/after pics for that wall. Now I just need to finish my thank you notes.

I finally sent a link to my blog to friends and family that have been using Caring Bridge to keep up with my progress. I have around a hundred subscribers over there and will still continue to post small updates there as well. By the way, you can subscribe to updates on this blog just as you did over there through RSS and Google by going to my box down there that says followers. Please do; I would love that! Oh yeah and I love comments, too! The more the merrier - they make my day!

I am just loving the blogging community right now much better than Caring Bridge. It was great while I was in the hospital, but now I need more. Blogging gives me more: more flexibility, more freedom, more options, and more audience. In searching sites and blogs for heart transplant patients I was very disappointed to find, well, not too many at all or at least not any focused on young women. In creating this blog and writing about complete randomness I have found such a great support group of amazing women, those with lives like mine, those with lives the opposite of mine, and those whose lives I wish were mine. Haha. So for you new readers who are curious about my story over the past five months you can check out my journals and the ones posted by my mother-in-law, who wrote when I couldn’t. You can also go here to just to get an idea of the whirlwind. Plus, my blog post labeled “Finally Time” on January 9th will give a little more insight into what I generally want to do here and probably even repeat some of this.

All day long I see things, and I think, “Oh, I’ve got to remember to blog about this.” Then I forget all about it. I do want to take a minute to brag about how beautiful it was here on Friday. About the time I got everything out on the porch that I wanted to be able chill out and write with, Finn woke up. I figured, “Hey, he’s a boy; he’ll love the outside thing.” I pulled his exisaucer out onto the porch with me snapped a couple of pics with my phone, sat on the swing and enjoyed the pleasant 70 degree weather. Ahhh. However, I never got around to writing due to a couple of phone calls, oh well. But watching Finn yap at the ducks was hilarious. Maybe that’s what we need to keep them from coming on the porch and using it as their own personal litter box.

I have so many things I want to accomplish or at least begin work on while I have this gift of extended time away from work: 

1. To begin writing a book. A couple of doctors and nurses have begged me to write a book on several occasions. Whoa, I don’t know that I can make that sort of commitment, but there is such a need for something like that to give comfort to those awaiting transplant and those adjusting to their new life after transplant. It may be easier just to go visit them like Jamie and Toni did for me. Love you forever, girls!!!
2. To start some work on my National Board certification since I am always wanting to improve my classes, and an annual $5,000.00 check doesn’t hurt either. Plus, I have heard it is nearly suicide to do it during the school year, but you do not have a choice for the majority of it requires classroom observation, videos, and student samples. I know it is huge and will nearly break me, but I want it so bad. I want to be THAT teacher the kids remember because they remembered the material that I made fun and interesting and not just because I was funny or nice, which many will beg to differ.
3. To freshen-up nearly every room in my house and create cozier spaces. My walls need help! They are nearly barren. I want to take pictures from Country Living and Coastal Living and poof them into my house, especially the painting part. ;)
4. To get the office and all our books and paperwork organized and accessible. I did this earlier in the year, so this should only take a couple of days.
5. To organize my massive collection of resources for class. Over the past couple of years I have amassed tons of activities and presentations for my kids, and I am always wanting to tweak it, then I spend my whole planning period creating new stuff for them rather than getting real work done. There were pretty much no resources for ninth grade  English when I first started and now I have so much that I need to organize, weed-out, and update to where all that I have to do is grade with more detail. Plus, I love when I can pass it on and give it to another teacher to use when they are running around like crazy looking for an activity.
6. To read more. Since I started teaching, when I am at home the last thing I want to do is read one more thing. In the past few months I have been reading and completing more books than I have in the past few years, and I love it. I have joined a blog called Girls With Books. This is a large group of women who read and review books, so I will now be reading and reviewing adolescent and adult literature on that blog. I will post links here as I do. I am so excited about this little project.
7. To become active and involved with the American Heart Association. I have signed up to help raise money for National Wear Red Day, Friday February 5, to raise awareness of women’s heart health. I posted a small goal of $500. If you would like to donate you can go to my donation page by clicking the Go Red button on the top right of my blog.

Thank you all for your love and support during this crazy, bizarre, and interesting time in our lives. Zac, Finn, and I will never be able to repay you for all that you have done, but we hope you can feel the deep gratitude we are sending your way every single morning as we get to wake up in our own home.

~After the freeze, the breeze is beautiful~

I love the freezing weather, especially when I don't have to get out in at 6:00 in the a.m. I have never gotten to enjoy the cold weather because I have always had to get up and drag my burrrcicled self to work, and with classrooms facing the outside pretty much since student teaching, I rarely ever got to un-bundle during the day. Yesterday, I did have to drag Finn and myself out into the chilly mini-metropolis of Mobile for my labs and his six month check-up. Leaving the neighborhood at 8:00 a.m., my car's thermometer read 27 degrees! His check-up went great, and he barely fussed with his shot. However, he is starting a little bit of stranger anxiety beginning with some of Beth's sweet coworkers and wrapping it up with Dr. Sands. He weighs 21 lbs. and measures 28 inches in length: I am rearing He-Man over here! When we arrived back home and it had begun to warm up, we took a walk down to the pond to check things out. Of course our new porch tenants, the ugly ducks, followed us down in a straight line. Why can't the mallards be the ones crashing next to the house?

The muscovy duck: a flock of which has taken over our back porch.

Finn was all wrapped up in his little brown hat and mittens. While we were checking out some large deer tracks, the mallards flew over to join us. Finn watched the ducks follow us all the way back up to the house, and expressed his dislike for coming inside as soon as I shut the door behind us, but it wasn't anything that jar of Gerber sweet potatoes couldn't fix. =) These little moments make staying home much sweeter: living in the quiet country doesn't hurt either - another aspect of life I am growing accustomed to now. I never realized how much of a city girl I was until I moved where I was thirty minutes from everything as opposed five minutes from everything. Plus, it prevents as much frivolous and impulse purchases, i.e. Target, Best Buy, Walgreens, etc.

I am actually looking forward to Tuesday's hepatology appointment in New Orleans, since I get to go by myself. I am not going to stay the night since my appointment isn't until 9:30. Maybe I'll get to hit up a couple of the antique shops for my new project: the wall in the dining area.

I was able to come down on my steroids again, and I can feel it. I am sleeping a little better, the head-to-toe swelling is slowly going down, and the munchies aren’t as ravenous, neither are the hot flashes. My next biopsy is on February 2nd, and hopefully I will get to go down again (and color my hair)! Hehe. I will be four months out then; six months is the big one; if I can keep it going like this many of my strong restrictions will be lifted or “loosened.

I really want to be able to reach more folks by showing up in search engines and in the blogging community. I will also be able to insert photographs/graphics and details with more freedom and creativity. There have been so many little things I have wanted to spill on and get feedback for that I not able to do on here. Upon searching for blogs for pre and post-transplant support I was very disappointed. Hopefully, I will eventually be able to create a community for those facing the possibility of a transplant, living with heart failure, and those dealing with their new lifestyle post-transplant. I also hope to put a thriving face to organ donation and encourage those dear families having to face that end of the spectrum. I cannot imagine the fear and unrest these families feel. Some of them may never heal enough to be able to face the recipient of their loved one’s organ, but I pray for peace to fill the souls of these noble angels.

By Jessica Hagy at http://thisisindexed.com/