My Double Lung Transplant

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Depending on your family traditions, if you're in Canada, you're most likely celebrating Thanksgiving today or tomorrow (the actual day).

For myself, we're celebrating today, and as one can guess, I have a lot to be thankful for this year. To my donor, for the amazing gift they gave me just two short months ago. I took the Spawn for a walk today in the lovely (albeit cool) fall weather. We went up to the park, and although she was acting like a complete spaz the entire time, I looked past it. Instead i found myself marveling at the feeling of my new lungs expanding and working...these beautiful expandable creatures dwelling inside my chest....aptly placed to keep me up and running - keeping me alive. To feel the inhaling and exhaling without crackles, without spurts of coughing and interupted with bouts of wheezing, isn't something i can explain to normal people. To feel them working deep in my back at the base of my lungs - a feeling i never had pre-tx, makes me stop every time i notice it happening. I love it. I love it to peices and always will.

Just to be able to stand on the trail with my mits on, and the Spawn acting like a spawn, was enough to make me happy. The colourful leaves flying off the trees and blowing by made it truely feel like Thanksgiving. The smell of the leaves just made it better. Although by the time our walk was complete and my ears were frozen, i can honestly say that this is the happiest Thanksgiving I've ever had. However, I know that somewhere out there is my donors' family, and it isn't the same for them. I am thinking of them today as well - as always -and am thankful to them and their decision to honour their loved ones wishes. Again, wherever my donor has landed in their afterlife, I hope they are resting on the shinest star imaginable and being treated like royalty.

I made butter tarts last night. Butter tarts are Canadian and they are awesome. I've never made them before, and I made everything from scratch - pastry included, and let me tell you, everything turned out fucking awesome. 12 butter tarts were created, and with the left over pastry and filling my parents suggested i make 'candy cake' or some roll thing. Basically, you make a giant butter tart but in an un-uniform manner...it looked like a burrito and i cut it to make spiral cookies, which also, turned out to be nothing short of fucking awesome.

I was hoping that would be enough, that it would act as my 'get out of jail free' card for today, and that it would allow me time to escape the familial madness that accompanies holidays, when everyone crowds into the kitchen even though they are not qualified to be there and have no intention of actually helping, but rather, they choose to stand there like a pillon holding beer and getting in the way. But no, i found myself making stuffing and then bacon and eggs for breakfast.

So now i'm opting out and reading on the couch, as i listen to those familial screechings of the parental units over who will make the potatoes, when my sis is coming over, and 'i can smell the turkey' ect.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Even when people drive you insane, be thankful that you have someone to do it - no matter how much they annoy the absolute shit out of you.

5 comments:

Jessica said...

Happy Thanksgiving! BTW I love your back drop on your blog.

Amy said...

Happy Thanksgiving woman!!!!!!
You do have tons to be thankful for this weekend and its so amazing!!! Enjoy those news lungs! :)

Matt Todd said...

The real thanksgiving is in November. But anyways happy thanksgiving.

Anonymous said...

Sounds AMAZING. Really touching entry. Imagine smelling leaves without oxygen tubing up yer nose. Thank goodness, and thanks to your donor and their gracious family indeed!

Anonymous said...

Sounds AMAZING. Really touching entry. Imagine smelling leaves without oxygen tubing up yer nose. Thank goodness, and thanks to your donor and their gracious family indeed!