My Double Lung Transplant

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

If you don't feel it, it doesn't exist!

Once again, a monkey wrench named 'anemia' has been thrown into my blood work. And i refuse to beleive that said condition exists since i feel fine - minus the sleeping for abnormally long periods of time bit and the odd bit of dizziness and the feeling of tingliness in my legs upon extreme exertion. My philosiphy is thus: if you don't feel it, it doesn't exist.

And that my friends, is the moral of the story.

I refuse to take iron pills because they turn my gut to stone and i then turn into a miserable uncrappable sod who reflects upon former days of being able to crap freely. But instead i sit and mope and spite the tiny little iron pills who i hold soley responsible for the unforunate state of my stomach. I try my best to eat foods that are 'rich in iron' and blah blah blah.

Blah.

But! Stupid supposed 'anemia' aside, things are swell! I've exercised almost every day since Sunday and I'm quite proud of myself! Sunday I went for a walk with Krystal and the Buffasaur, and came home and made (from scratch) 3 loaves of cinnamon raisin bread as per my sister's request, and 2 batches of chocolate chip banana muffins. Mmmmm. Monday *drum roll please* I RODE MY BIKE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 5 YEARS AND THE FIRST TIME POST TX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *applause all around* weeeeeeeeeeeeee! And it felt wonderful! I kept wondering when the short-of-breathness dealio was going to kick in, and it only really did when i attempted to ride uphill, which, holy fuck people, is a feat in and of itself. And i wouldn't even claim this to be a 'hill' or any sort; it was more like a lump, but my thighs threatened to snap in half and burst through my skin. As for the lungs, it was just slight laboured breathing that is easily controlled and not the result of illness or rejection but just generally being mildly out of shape. I can hike for 4km easily, but riding a bike requires more thigh power than i possess, so we shall work on it!

Yesterday i took the girls for a walk at the university, in the Arboretum (it's like giant botanical garden, truely lovely) and we had a great time. Ironically enough, as i was debating which path to take, I was lured to the left whereupon i was greeted by a sign that said "Wall-Custance Memorial Forest". I had always wondered where this mystical place resided because when Karyn died, the funeral home planted a tree in her memory. So this is where it is! my brain thought. As as I made my way to the plaques to see if i could find her, "Breathe Me" started to play on my iPod. A sign from her? Maybe...because it's currently one of my favourite songs. Needless to say, I didn't find the tree planted for her but it truely moved me to see that people care enough for their loved ones to plant trees in their memories as well as contribute to the environment by restoring it's oxygen-giving counterparts. Hurray!

Anywho, onto the horror story that happened to me - or us, rather. So the girls and I are walking down a trail when i see a sign that says, "<--- Nature Valley Trail " Ooooh! my brain said. And in we went.

We're well into the covetted nature valley trail when we reach a boardwalk. It seemed sound enough so the girls and i took it, but could only go so far when i noticed that the rest was utter muck. So we turned around. As we neared the end of the boardwalk back to the entrance the girls leashes got tangled, which bothered me because they are constantly entwining themselves. As i was in the midst of sorting out what leash belong to who, I had one dog to my left, and one to my right, when i felt a violent tug on the right-side leash. I looked around. Maddy was missing. And that's when i saw it.

Maddy had gone overboard. Into the muddy pond 5 feet below.

And the only way to get her out was to jump down myself and get her.

Wearing white.

So down i jump. Try lifting a sheltie whose been stuck in the mud out, as the other sheltie decides it's the perfect time to fall down and get her foot stuck between the boards. Brooke is up on the boards, scrambling away like a fool as i'm failing to lift Madyson out of the muck. It's at this point that my patience crumbled and i yelled, 'HOW THE FUCK DID YOU MANAGE THIS?!'

*sigh*

Long story short, we scaped, no one was injured, and i realized that i had no option but to just laugh at what had happened.

As we left, I decided to venture back into the Wall-Custance Memorial Forest in hopes of giving it another go at finding Karyn's tree. And this time, as i entered, "My Immortal" came on my iPod.

That's the song i listened to 7 times the day she died before i even knew she had passed away.

A sign? Perhaps!

As for today's exercise, i rode my bike to the grocery store to pick up some beef soup broth for the homemade soup i'm making.

And here i sit, listening to piano instrumentals, reading, cooking, and enjoying all the things that life has to offer.

Still job hunting, but lets not spoil a good post with the moanings of that.

And! What else makes this day more perfect is the copious amounts of tea at hand. Woo hoo. And next to all the exercise i'm doing, i'm also eating better and my body feels good because of it. Woo hoo!

6 comments:

BreathinSteven said...

You always make me smile...

I like signs too... They help me think about people I like to think about... They make me think they're standing over my shoulder, smiling and thinking about me too...

Love, Steve

Beth said...

Hi,
Just found your blog. I think its great you're sharing your tx story. =)

As far as the 'UGH I hate anemia-can't-crap-to-save-my-life' condition, I would suggest taking iron pills once every other day or every 2 days. Anemia got thrown into my bloodwork as well, and having CF tummy issues are certainly no stranger, but I find needing iron everyday is HORRENDOuS! so I started out every 2 days then every other. Works pretty well.

xox,
Beth

Tara said...

Regarding the Iron. If you take ferrous sulfate pills, yes, you will be constipated.

Try and find Ferrous Gluconate pills, there's a brand in the US called Fergon.

Personally I prefer the liquid Iron (non constipating ferrous gluconate) for quicker hemoglobin restoration. I buy Floradix Iron and Herbs, the bigger bottle, I think it's 17oz. It's a pain b/c you must refrigerate, but it works really well. It tastes about as good as you'd expect, but you get used to it. Ask your tx team before you make any changes of course. Good luck!

Amy said...

awwww poor pups and you lol!!!!!

And BTW, yes I have chunks all summer give or take a week or two when she is gone....be prepared, be very prepared for bitch fests LOL

Unknown said...

each chronic illness has its own limitations and how to cure them, sometimes we think is a fad but the best person to determine it is the specialist, so they should always refer to medical specialist ..

Matt Todd said...

I have anemia too and i also see no effects from it. However I do sleep for long periods of time too. They give me an injection at dialysis for it.