Rehab

I'm getting bored of rehab.

Is that completely horrible of me? Am i such a horrible person that i'm getting bored of the very thing I fought so long to get into? Maybe i'm not bored per se....just 'bored' in the sense that i'm finding it repetitive. Aye. This bordom however is not enough to make me stop going to rehab - lord knows i never would...maybe i'm just tired of the activities.

So what is it I do, you ask? Well...here's the run down:

WARM UP:
- resting O2 sats (5 minutes)
- walk to the doors and back (1x)
- arm circles (10x)
- high stepping (10 x)

EXERCISES:
- bike 20 minutes (i'm finding i need to take breaks every 5 minutes, so i go 5,5,5,5). My speed is lower too. Today my heart went over 180 beats per minute and over 200. Not good
- 1/4 squats with 2lbs weights (10x)
- chest expansion (10x)
- side bending, overhead stretching (10x each)
- 2lbs arm curls (10x); 2lbs tricep curls (10x)
- leg weights, 2lbs
- abduction (10x each leg)
- excision (10x each leg)
- quad stretch(10x each leg)
- and some more (10x each leg)
- calf stretch, each leg hold 15 seconds, (10x each)
- box step, 2 steps, (10x)
- treadmill, 20 minutes

COOL DOWN:
- walk 1 time to doors
- deep breathing 5 minutes
- check resting sats

FINISHED!

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!! So that's what i do at rehab Mon, Weds, and Fri. It takes me about an hour and a half now. When i first started it took about 2 hours, so I've got it down a little bit. So it is quite the workout, and i'm very thankful that i'm actually getting to do this so I can get in and sustain the best shape possible for transplant. The whole purpose of rehab is to stay in the best physical shape possible to maximize recovery time and also lessen the amount of muscle you lose immediately post tx. I know it will pay off.

Someone I go to rehab with, Bob (who's been listed since the end of Jan) got a call last Tues! Unfortunately it was a false alarm, but a call nonetheless which means he's closer to the top of the list now! I'm afraid of false alarms to be honest (is it safe to admit that?) I'm afriad b/c I'm smaller than the average bear, and what if it takes them eons to find another match?? I know it's a reasonable fear but a fear nonetheless. I guess I won't know until the last minute.

Friday when I was on the deck, I heard a hissing sound. I thought it was a snake. It wasn't a sound i had ever heard outside before (I don't think), so I was pretty scared when I in fact heard it. I listened more closely and still it came, so I went onto the grass, barefoot, to investigate this potential snake. Not a wise idea one would guess....investigating a potential snake while barefoot, but i did it, and I found nothing....but i still heard the hissing and was convinced there was something a miss.

Today when i was putting my make up on (you still need to look pretty regardless of if you're waiting for a tx - at least to me, it makes me feel normal!), I heard the hissing again. Was the snake in the wall?!? Did the snake follow me and find me in my bed room? I stopped everything I was doing. I stopped and stood still and I listened, and then I heard it...

It was me.

ME!

ME DAMNITT ME!!!!!!!!!!!! *falls to the floor dramatically and cries*

I sound like a hissing snake! A bloody hissing snake!!! It brought back memories to the winter when i was convinced there were mice fighting in the wall....and upon closer inspection it turned out that the copious amounts of squeaking was actually me! Me and my squeaky lungs!!!

My squeaky, hissing lungs!

Aye.

There is nothing I can do. I have to accept that. The squeaking/hissing won't go away until new lungs come and for now all i can do are my treatments like a good lady and ignore the sounds.

Lungs, come soon (please!)