Pasta in Olive Oil with Pancetta, Shallots and Garlic!!

Well I have FINALLY decided to dust off the old blog and and get back into the habit of cooking and then documenting my food here. Its not that we have been not eating around here, trust me on that one!

It all started with my camera's battery charger deciding it didn't want to charge anything anymore which left me without a working camera. Of course I had my trusty IPhone but unfortunately with all of the meds I am on because of my transplant my hands shake a lot and makes for some VERY blurry pics and I just didn't want to post pictures of my food that tasted SO good but looked SO crappy once I snapped the picture!

Then I had a few months of being in and out of the hospital due to severe nausea caused by a lovely med I am on that just hates me and causes me all kinds of problems! So I literally at one point didn't eat really anything of substance for like a week because everything I ate, smelled,  or even looked at made me sick so the LAST thing I wanted to do was cook and blog about it. Luckily (knock on wood) I am better and working at trying to pack on some of the calories I lost PLUS I got a new camera for Christmas so I am ready to rock and roll!! :)

I have SO many recipes that I have made recently that I want to share with you PLUS I am attempting to channel my inner craftiness and I borrowed my mom's sewing machine so that I can TRY and attempt a few DIY projects around my house. I am so inspired when I read some of these amazing moms out there who can turn nothing into something fabulous and if I can even have a remote oz of that I will take it! LOL I will be trying to take pics of my sewing projects along the way and post about them (good or bad) so keep your fingers crossed for me...

Today, I thought to myself ok today when you make lunch document it so you can get your first blog post of the year up...mid Feb I know but better late than never, right?

So anybody who knows me knows I love to cook but am still pretty terrified if I don't have a recipe and I think its cause I just don't trust myself or something I don't know. My grandma can go into a kitchen, a dash here, a pinch there and out comes a fabulous meal every time! Me not so much.

So when I was hungry this afternoon but didn't want the old stand by of soup and a sandwich I decided I would look through my pantry and fridge and just try and make lunch by "winging it" and I don't mean to pat myself on the back or anything (ok I do!) but I think I did a pretty good job!

Here's the ingredients I came up with:

Spaghetti noodles~ 4oz (about half a box)

Olive Oil~ 2 tablespoons, or more as needed

Parmesan Cheese~ 1/2cup grated from a block of Parmesan

Pancetta~ 4oz (you could use bacon here if you don't have the Pancetta on hand)

1 Shallot~ chopped

4 cloves of garlic~ minced (can you tell I LOVE garlic?)

Fresh Parsley~ about 2 tablespoons....just to add some pretty color! 

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Bring a pot of large salted water to a boil.
2. While that gets started go ahead and put the oil in a medium sized skillet over medium heat. Add the shallot and minced garlic, stirring occasionally. Then add the pancetta and cook until nicely browned (about 10 minutes.) Turn off the heat.
3. Cook the pasta in the boiling water until tender. Drain it (or I just scoop it out and put it right in with the olive oil and pancetta) reserving some of the starchy pasta water.
4. Toss the pasta with the pancetta, shallot, garlic and olive oil. Stir in the cheese and parsley. If the mixture is dry, you can either add a little of the pasta water (which I did) or a little more olive oil. Taste and then adjust the seasoning if needed with salt and pepper.

**You most likely wont need a ton of salt because both the pancetta and parmesan have a salty flavor but I did end up adding a little bit to mine in the end! 

Well, there you have it. Nothing fancy but very flavorful (how could it not be with ALL the garlic...but can you really ever have too much garlic??) and I for one had a second helping!! 

I hope that since I have been away for so long I still have some people willing to check out my little old blog from time to time and I promise that if you come back and read I will post! 

Just heard the hubby pull up so I am off to start dinner! Its the Pioneer Woman to the rescue for tonights menu....more on that later....

I'M Back....

I know, I know....I have been a BAD blogger! Its just I have had so much going on through the holidays and going through my back pain issue (which thankfully is better!) I literally had no time to blog or was in so much pain I wasn't even able to get out of bed and when I did get downstairs to cook I certainly wasn't in the mood to take pics of everything for the blog. But I feel better and ready to get back to cooking! :)

Let me give you a quick version of what I have been doing while I wasn't blogging....

I hosted my very first Thanksgiving at our house we had about 30 adults plus children. It was wonderful and stressful all at the same time because I was working very hard to make it PERFECT. We had two turkeys (one traditional in the oven which I made and one smoked that my BIL did) and a ham that my MIL made. Then I made 4 pies from SCRATCH for dessert and everyone who came also brought a dish anywhere from an appetizer to a side dish. It was a great Thanksgiving filled with lots of family and friends! Certainly beats last Turkey day by a long shot since last year I was eating Thanksgiving dinner in the hospital attached to a vent!

I had my one year anniversary of my lung transplant on December 2, 2011 and I celebrated in style by not only having a wonderful party at my house with family and friends to celebrate....BUT I also got to spend 4 amazing days in NYC with my sister and cousin. We walked EVERYWHERE, by the time it was time to go home parts of my body that I didn't even knew existed hurt! But I could do it and I didn't have to stop/rest/or hold anyone back because I could BREATH! It was an amazing feeling!

Christmas kinda snuck up on me this year. I am usually that person who in October is usually done shopping and this year I don't even know what happened but I was way behind and still shopping the week of Christmas! That will never happen again believe me because all the millions of people who were also shopping reminded me why I don't go to stores or malls in the month of December is because of all the other crazy shoppers out there! Christmas Eve was spent with the in-laws and Christmas day was spent with my family by going to church in the morning and then dinner late afternoon.  It was a great Christmas all around.

New Years Eve we had a little party at out house like we usually do. Danny doesn't really care to go out on New Years and worry about who's gonna drive home and then navigating the roads with all the other people who are possibly driving drunk. He thinks its just safer to stay home. So we have had a New Years Eve party every year we have lived in our house except last cause I was still in Gainesville recovering.

So that brings us into January. I just had a check up last week that included a bronch and yesterday my coordinator called me with my results which I am proud to say were NEGATIVE for rejection!! I was a little worried this time because I have been having major sinus issues and I didn't want that negatively affecting my beautiful breathers. Oh yeah I almost forgot to mention I got a early 30th birthday present yesterday (my bday is 2/3!) a NEW CAR!! Its so pretty, I will have to post pictures next time I blog! :)

Well that's all I got for today. I have to go meet my little brother at his college cause he needs some money for gas...aren't I a good sister or what? LOL

Till next time....XoxoX

rATG and things..

I know I said I would update up all once my 5 day treatment was over...but once I got home I still had the body aches and slight itchiness that went alone with the drug. So I was in no mood to type an entry. Plus I was on a temporary "house arrest" since the rATG completely wiped out my immune system so I was told to stay aways from large crowds for a while!

I go back up to Gainesville on the 22nd of August to do another bronch and hope that all the rejection is gone! ***Everyone cross fingers***

Then at 1:45 I have an appointment with the vascular surgeons who worked on my leg...I have been having some swelling in my left foot and I just want to make sure everything is all good. So at 1:45 I have a ABIS test done to measure the pressures in my leg and then tuesday morning and 9:20 we have an actual appt with the dr who will go over the test results....and then we will be heading them!! :)

The last couple of weeks have been kind of boring for me being locked in the house and everything but its over now so I am a happy camper! I am eager to get back to the gym couldn't do that the last 2 weeks either so I am sure all the soreness I worked through all ready is gonna be back in full force!! Ouch...

The only other new thing I have been doing is seeing a massage lady once a month to work on my leg/foot pain and the pain I get in my lower back....it seems to be going good. I figure since I have the numbness in my foot/ankle/leg sometimes that the massage is good to getting the circulation moving around those ares again and I am hoping the feeling comes back!

Also, I used to write on this blog all the time because that's all i did was write about things that were going wrong with me. Well now that that has faded I think I am gonna try and change my format a little. I will still update on my health cause u know we all still have our ups and downs there just not as frequent!

So since I LOVE to cook every night and my friends are always asking for the recipes I figured every night after dinner (or lets be honest maybe the next morning) I will post the pictures of what we ate plus the corresponding recipe to that picture! Plus I am in the middle of re-doing some of our rooms so I will post pre and post of those projects as well!!

Well what do you think would you read a semi health/semi cooking/semi decorating blog from me?? Let me know what ya'll think!! :)

Its been WAY to long...

I don't even know where to begin! Its been so long since I wrote a blog and everyday I tell myself ok I am gonna write one and then I just don't.

I have been feeling SO great lately and am hardly ever home during the day anymore and thats when I usually wrote my blog post! But tonight I was like ok this is getting ridiculous, sit down and write something....so here it goes! :)

In the last month, I had my 6 month transplantaversary, my 4 YEAR wedding anniversary, been to Orlando twice (once for a the weekend with Danny for a Disney trip for out Anniversary and once for a week with my parents at there time share) both trips were awesome and I had a blast!

I think the best part for me about Disney was the fact that we got there at 8:30am and didn't leave the park till 10:30pm and I walked ALL day with out being out of breath, tired or needing any breaks besides when we stopped for food/drinks. My brother-in-law who is a firefighter actually started complaining about his feet hurting around noon...by the end of the day I told him if I had to hear about his feet one more time I was gonna punch him in the eye!! LOL

A few weeks ago I joined the gym around the corner from house. I started with just doing the treadmill for 30 minutes and now am up to a little over an hour there doing both the treadmill and weight machines for my arms and legs. I go pretty much every other day and I really enjoy it. At first I was SO sore but now its much better and I can feel myself getting a little stronger every week! I have finally gotten brave enough to try a spin class so I think my SIL and I are going to try a class sometime next week. The only sucky thing is the class is usually at like 9am and I am SO not a morning person and neither is my SIL Stephanie! But I am willing to get up and give it a try because everyone who takes the class just loves it.

I think I mentioned before that Danny was re-doing the downstairs bathroom and guest room. Well he has been working so much that its taken awhile to get things done but the bathroom is FINALLY done and the bedroom is almost done so I will try and get pictures up of the final product....I just LOVE my bathroom! :)

On a sad note a good friend of mine that I met last year past away this past Sunday. Sara lived in my town and had 2 tx's in Gainesville where I had my surgery. About 3 weeks ago our Dr sent her home with nothing else he could do for her chronic rejection and after being home for a week they called in hospice. On June 17th, Sara and her boyfriend Jesse were married in a little ceremony outside there home and on the following Sunday (June 19th) she passed away. I got to see her and say goodbye on Saturday and I have to say it was very heartbreaking for me but I am glad she isn't suffering anymore. Nobody should have to go through that...the person or their family. Its very sad. She was such a loving, caring and kind person and if you knew her and were lucky enough to call her your friend then you know just how special she was. No matter how sick she was she always took the time daily to text me to see how I was doing and was truly 100% happy for me that I was doing well and living life to the fullest...and I honestly don't know how she did it cause I don't think I am that type of person....but hopefully I can take a little piece of Sara with me and strive to be more like her. The world would be a much kinder place with more people like Sara in it.

On that sad note (now that I am crying once again) I think I will end my post for tonight and I will really try to update more often! Tomorrow I will try to get some pictures up of my 2 mini vacations when I get home from the gym!! :)

Good Night!!

XoxoX

Last Week...

Well last Monday my SIL Stephanie took me back up to Gainesville for an x-ray to see how my little lungies were doing and he ended up scheduling a bronch for that afternoon and I was admitted again! :(

Steph spent the night with me and then headed home the next morning after we woke up. I am so lucky to have a SIL like her...she is ALWAYS there when I need her no matter what!

Unfortunately, we aren't entirely sure what is going on with me. When he does an xray and bronch it looks like pneumonia in the left lung but I have had no fevers at all (knock on wood!) and my biopsy's keep coming back negative for rejection but for some reason I don't think he is happy with those answers and thinks something else is going on! He said infection/rejection can look the same in a bronch so sometimes its hard to tell. So at the moment I am on IV cefipime twice a day and while I was admitted into the hospital I did 3 days of high solumerol IV and now I am on a prednisone tapper. Oh I am also on coumadin for a month (hello bruise city!) because I had a CT scan last week that showed a small blood clot so they are treating me for that as well! I tell yeah if it isn't one thing its another! :(

Easter was great. Dinner with my family was awesome and I am glad I wasn't in the "Get Well Hotel" as one of my friends calls it! I was there for 4 days last week but was able to leave on Friday to join my parents and little sister in Panama City Beach for the weekend to visit my Aunt and Uncle! It was a nice but WAY to short of a trip....next time it will have to be a longer

visit and maybe Danny can go too!

Our little family at Easter!

Me & Danny! :)

Me & Jessie in Panama City Beach!

Speaking of Danny...while I was away my awesome husband checked some things off his Honey-Do list and painted/added chair-rail to the living room and dining room. I am so thankful to have a husband that is handy AND motivated to actually do the projects that I think up in my head! :)

boring living room from when we first moved in....

slowly getting there...

Dining room from when we first moved in...

Now! :)

Well, thats all I got for now...I am on IV's for the rest of the week and have to go to a clinic appointment on May 11th so we will see what he says then. I have a meeting tomorrow for Jen's Kids so we will see how that turns out. The hospital unfortunately hasn't done a darn thing while I was away so we are meeting to decide where to go from here. I am kind of disappointed in them that they dropped the ball so we will see.

Anyway....have a great week everyone!! XoxoX

Gainesville Update!

Well I got my biopsy results back from my bronch last Monday and they were NEGATIVE!! Woo Hoo! So relieved....its kind of stressful waiting for those results.

Thursday I had the pressure test done on my legs and both have 100% blood flow in them, they are perfect! Well...except for the little bit of numbing I have on my left shin and parts of my left foot. The doctor said after the year mark of my surgery any numbing that I still have will probably be permanent but at this point its to early to tell what if any I will have!

Thursday night Mom and I met a great gal by the name of Lori. I have been reading her blog for some time now and she reads mine as well. When she emailed me and told me that she would be visiting her cousin in Jacksonville and would I like to meet up for dinner I jumped at the chance! We had an awesome time and I can't wait till the next time we can hang out...who knows maybe I might have to take a trip to NC soon! :)

Physical therapy is going good. Not to much to report there. Still working on our downstairs bathroom...its half painted its just needs the glaze but Danny has been working so much he hasn't had time to finish it. I wish I could help but painting is a no-no for me! Oh well it will

get done soon one thing Danny is not is a slacker!

Here are a few pictures of dinner the other night!! :)

Me & Lori

Lori, Me & Mom

Me & my Mom :)

Busy Week!

Hello! I think I told you all in my last post that I was scheduled for a bronch/biopsy on the 24th and then I had other appts as well with other Dr's since we were up there. I figured get everything done in a couple days then we don't have to drive to Gainesville for awhile.

Well that was a great plan until my transplant Dr called last week and wanted to move my bronch from Thursday morning to Monday morning. So needless to say we had to drive to Gainesville Sunday night to sleep in a hotel, woke up had my bronch (first one since my trach has been removed I will get more into that in a minute) slept in recovery for a couple hours, was released to go home, had lunch at Fridays, got in the car slept some more and then finally arrived home! AND because we still have all my other appts that I made we get to do it all over again on Thursday and Friday minus all the sleeping since I am not having another bronch!

Its not so bad I just hate being in the car for HOURS....especially if its just me and one other person because then I feel like I have to stay awake and talk to keep them company when all I really want to do is sleep so the trip goes by faster!! Ever since I was a kid when I go on road trips my eyelids get very heavy and I am usually asleep before we have left the driveway! LOL Happens every time.....

I don't have the results of my biopsy yet but all my blood work came back ok and Dr. Baz said my lungs looked really good and that they were clear! Now onto my bronch experience...this was my first bronch post-trach and the first time going in through my nose so I wasn't entirely sure on what to expect.

First of all, the lidocaine breathing treatment taste gross let me just throw that out there. SO then my Dr comes in we chat for a minute he asks how im doing I get a few Rx from him etc., he tells the nurse to give me the meds (300mcg of Fentanyl and 3mg of Versed) and then he basically starts the procedure right away. So I felt him numbing my nose and while I don't really remember the whole procedure I do recall bits and pieces and I could feel some of it too. So I think if he gave me the medicine and waited I don't know 5 minutes maybe I would be more out of it than if he just started right away. Plus I think next time I am gonna see if he can give me 4mg of versed since I know of other people who get DOUBLE that amount! He can be so stingy when it comes to pain medicine and things like that....

Other than being sleepy for the rest of the day the only other side effect I had was a minor sore throat but that only lasted the rest of the day when I woke up Tuesday I was fine. One of the things I talked to my Dr about was the fact that im not happy with my weight....all 92.8 pounds of it! He asked me how my appetite was and I said that it was ok but not great so he gave me a Rx for Megace. Has anybody ever taken this before and if so how did it work out?

Onto more exciting stuff other than bronchs and weight gaining....we are almost done with the downstairs bathroom! Danny did the first couple coats of paint Sunday and Monday while I was out of town and hopefully if he has time this weekend he will do the glazed sponge paint on top of that! It looks SO good already I love my beach theme bathroom! :)

I went to my first post-tx yoga class on Friday and it was AWESOME! I also started physical therapy last week too. I will be going to PT 3 times a week where I will walk the treadmill/maybe start on the elliptical, work on my leg and foot a little since I still have a lot of numbness there from my arterial bypass surgery and then the BEST part of all is the massages since I have been having so much trouble with my lower back lately. I have an appt today at 4! :)

Well I think this post is long enough....I probably wont post again till I get back from Gainesville so I will let you all know then the results of my biopsy and how all my other appts went! Have a good rest of the week!

Im Home! :)

Friday morning at around 7:30am I officially had my trach removed and before lunch I was discharged from the hospital!

We had some loose ends to take care of at the apartment (equipment pick-up etc) but were on the road and made it safe and sound to our house at around 4:00pm!

Friday night Danny and I went to my favorite pizza place for dinner and then on Saturday we went to Target in the morning and then spent the whole rest of the day deep cleaning (I say we loosely because I kind of sat there and "supervised") the house and putting away the Halloween decorations that were still up...yes thats right I said Halloween because I haven't been home since October!!!

My kitchen looks so pretty! When I was in the hospital I did a little shopping on Amazon (I tend to shop online when I am in the hospital...oops) and got new kitchen knives (which are FABULOUS by the way I have never cut an onion so well in my life!) and a really cute bottle to hold EVOO....that extra virgin olive oil for anybody who doesnt watch Rachael Ray on the Food Network! I will have to take some pictures of my kitchen tomorrow when I am downstairs and post them so you all can see. We have lived in the house 3 years and its just now starting to come together with the decorating for the longest time there was nothing on the walls and I didnt know where to start but its all coming together nicely!

This weekend I am re-doing the downstairs bathroom....3 years of palm trees and I am over it. I am gonna have my mom paint the bathroom this really pretty blue color and then I am going to do a beach theme in there! I found this shower curtain with flip flops on it thats really cute...I can't wait! :) I will take before and after pics of that as well....

Next week on the 24th and 25th I have to be in Gainesville for a bronch/biopsy and then see the vascular doctors as well and have the pressures in my leg tested to see how that is doing. Lets keep the fingers and toes crossed that its a CLEAR bronch and everything goes well!

Ok well its midnight so I SHOULD probably turn off the computer and try to go to sleep......wish me luck! Good Night :)

XoxoX

Almost home free!!!

Saw my doctor today and the game plan is on Tuesday I am going to have a bronch and biopsy done AND drum roll please......get my Trach out!!! WOO HOO!! You have know idea how bad I want this thing out. Three months is entirely to long to have a foreign object protruding from your neck. Very annoying!

If the test results from my biopsy are all clear then next weekend Danny and I are moving on out of here! I can't wait to sleep in my own bed. The bed here in the apartment we are staying at SUCKS! I wake up every morning with a terrible back ache. I know the first night at home is gonna be like sleeping on a cloud...our mattress is awesome and I miss it!

So if you could all think clear positive thoughts for me I would appreciate it. I wanna go home and Danny needs to get back to work! :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

XoxoX

How long did it take you??

This is a question for all of my post-tx peeps out there....how long did it take you all to "heal" completely from your surgery?

I know that since I am on prednisone and a ton of other medications it takes a bit longer to heal than most people. But it seems like even things that seem pretty much healed (meaning not scabbed over any more, etc.) are still red. Here is an example of where the line was in my neck...while the hole itself is completely closed and flat like its not even there its still VERY red which makes the stupid thing noticeable.

This is only one example. With the amount of surgeries I have had since I have been in Gainesville (9 to be exact) my poor body looks like a road map that belongs in an Atlas of the USA!!

So I was just wondering how long I will have my lovely body souvenirs around as a reminder of my time here in good old Northern Florida and when I can look forward to finally having them start fading away a little bit.

I do realize that it has only been two months since my transplant and 2 weeks since my arterial bypass surgery so I don't expect to be completely fine at this point but I will be honest and say it makes me feel a little bad knowing I look like this right now. Last night as Danny was helping change some of my bandages I actually started crying cause I felt so bad. And of course he was completely wonderful and says I am beautiful no matter what and I know he means it but I was still sad. :(

Anyway..thats all I got for tonight. Gotta go blow-dry my hair and then we are gonna watch a movie. I have my first post-tx clinic in the morning so that means its early rising for us!!

Good Night Ya'll!

XoxoX

Out of the hospital

For the first time in 65 days I slept in a bed other than a hospital bed!

You would think that it would have been the best night sleep ever but unfortunately that was NOT the case! I still am not able to sleep flat and since I obviously don't have a bed that can sit up I had one heck of a time trying to get comfortable on a stack of pillows propping me up.

Plus I think that coming "home" for the first time in such a long time along with my whole new regimen of meds was a little overwhelming. Plus not having the security of being able to call a nurse if something was wrong was also a little scary. Although I have to admit I haven't really dealt with my meds myself yet. When we got home yesterday my mom was the one who got them all out and in the pill box for the first time...she's so organized with the whole thing I swear she had pie charts and graphs of all that I was supposed to do! LOL

I think its just going to take me awhile to fully trust my new lungs and know that yes I can breath now and yes I am going to be ok. There are just so many emotions that I feel all at once it feels sorta like a roller coaster ride sometimes.

But I made it through the hard part now I just have to do my physical therapy and get strong so I can go home and live my life again. Cause that is what this whole thing has been about to live my life with the ones I love.

Danny and my sister are coming up tonight and the rest of my family will be here tomorrow night so we can spend Christmas together. I am just so thankful to be here and out of the hospital! I hope everyone has a great Holiday and Merry Christmas!! XoXoX

I think its almost that time...

Yesterday and today I have been feeling a little more SOB than usual. Its almost at the 2 month mark of me being off abx so its not unusual that this is how I am feeling. It just sucks that its like clock work...

I have been feeling so good lately too. I have been going to yoga, I have been out almost everyday with my SIL "window shopping" (wink, wink) cooking dinner every night, doing all my treatments like usual so why oh why do I have to wake up and feel this way? and why can't I stay out of the hospital for more than 2 months??!!

I had planned on going into the hospital Nov. 1st that way I was for sure out by Thanksgiving and Danny's birthday and I would be well through Christmas. Plus I have plans the next couple weekends that I really don't want to miss so me not feeling good is totally cramping my style!!

I know, I know...if I don't feel good I shouldn't push to stay out because that never goes well so I will see how I do today and tomorrow and if I have to call the doctor I will. Just know that I won't be happy about it! :(

Anyway..other than that I am totally loving the cooler weather (when I say cooler I mean its 78! lol) and the lower humidity we are having here in SWFL! I can't wait till we can bust out the sweaters and have some bon fires!! :)

Lung Transplant Center Party

Its already almost been a week but at least my post is better late than never!

Last Friday my mom and I went back up to Gainesville (after being there Wed for a clinic appointment) for my transplant centers 16th anniversary celebration. We drove up for the party that was from 2pm-6pm stayed the night in a hotel (its a 4hour drive from my house) and then woke up the next morning to come home. Needless to say I was pretty much exhausted all weekend from the trip!

I was a little apprehensive about going and im not sure really why. I mean I love all the wonderful people I have met and talk to through my blog and you guys have been tons of help to me in any of the questions or concerns I have brought your way but still I wasn't to excited about going. But my mother thought it would be good for us so up we went!

When we first got there they had guest speakers talking about all the different experimental things they have in the pipeline as far as lung transplants go and its all very exciting stuff! I will have to see about getting some of the pamphlets from my mom and maybe doing a couple post on them.

After all the speeches were done they had food and drinks and everyone kind of mingled around and talked. I met some really nice people who all have had there transplants at Shands. All of them gave me some "pointers" on what they thought the hardest part of surgery was, what to expect etc. This one gentleman in particular I was really impressed with looked like he just stepped off a golf corse (you know polo shirt, khaki pants, shinny silver hair, sun-kissed skin) he looked FABULOUS and he was 10yrs post-tx!!

I also met a girl there who is around my age with CF and she just had her tx like a week or two before. The crazy thing about her story is after we were talking for a bit we found out that she not only lives like literally 2 minutes away from me we also have the same hair dresser! Small world, right?

In the end I am super glad my mom pushed for us to go. It was really nice. Oh yeah...and I won a necklace and earrings in a raffle and I never win anything!! :)

This week has been ok health wise. I finished my 14 days of Cipro. My cough is better but I am still slightly more SOB than usual. I just started for the first time in years Tobi so maybe that will help!

OK..have a few more good days of the week and a great weekend!!

Transplant Check-up

Went to Gainesville yesterday and it was a really good appointment!

It started at 6am with us getting on the road since my appt was at 10. My whole check-up was a breeze yesterday since I had no test or labs. So all I had to do was give a sputum culture and see the Dr.

When the Dr came in I told him all about my recent hospital stay and my pulmonary hypertension (which he already knew about from my Pulmonologist at home) and he informed me that my number has gone from a 41 to a 43 and that I am 4th on the list for my blood type. But he said that doesn't necessarily mean I have to wait for 3 people to get lungs because the 3 people ahead of me have smaller chest cavities than I do so if a bigger set of lungs come in they couldn't use them so it would go to me. So it could be anytime now....

I have been having real bad ringing in my ears which I thought was from the diuretic, so my transplant Dr told me I could D/C it since I wasn't swollen anymore. Yesterday morning was my last dose of it and I still have the ringing tonight! I am starting to think it is the Revatio that is causing it. But since that med is for my Pulmonary Hypertension I don't think Dr. Faverio is gonna stop it. I just hope this ringing either stops or gets lower cause I am going to go bonkers if it doesn't!! :(

One more week...

Boy did I call it. One more week of abx for me!

My doctors office called me this morning and said that yes I was to continue with home IV's and oh btw I needed to get to a lab by 4:00 to get drug levels and a bmp done.

Well that's all fine and dandy except Danny took my car to work with him today because we thought I didn't need to go anywhere (my Honda gets WAY better gas mileage than his Ford Lightning SVT!) today and oh yeah he had his keys too!

So I had to call my super awesome SIL and she came and saved the day and took me to get my blood drawn. When it comes to SIL I have to tell ya I got lucky in that category! Stephanie is there every single time I have needed her and I don't think I will ever be able to "re-pay" or give back all that she has done for me, even though I will try! :)

Anyway...I hope this last week of abx does the trick. I need to start feeling better already!!!

800 Days

Today my little counter on the side of my blog says that I have been listed for a double lung transplant for 800 DAYS!!!

I would never have guessed in a million years that I would be waiting this long. I have to believe that 2010 is my year....it just has to be. If not I am likely to loose my mind!! No not really, but it sure feels that way sometimes.

I am just ready to FEEL better.

Last Night

Last night we went to dinner with a big group of friends. We ordered and ate WAY to much food. The restaurant is served family style so everybody has a little bit of everything. The waiter said the small order fed 2-3 people while the large order fed 5-6 people.

We had 2 tables sitting next to each other full of people, but our table had 8 people (4 couples) so we decided to order 4 large dishes...each couple picking a different dish. Figuring with what the waiter told us that was appropriate.

We ordered Lasagna, Chicken Carbonara, Spaghetti w/meatballs and Chicken stuffed with prosciutto and cheese with a pesto sauce underneath. All fabulously delicious but to much....the Lasagna and Chicken needed to be large and was all eaten, but both the Spaghetti and Chicken Carbonara came out in humungous bowls. They were so big that we all took some of each home and thats after all of us eating some of it too. We definitely know for next time we can order smalls for that stuff!

I was so full by the end I could barely breath or move and was on total carb overload I could have gone to sleep right there! LOL But it was another great night with great friends so it was worth the gluttony for one evening. :)

Here are a few pictures from last night:

The girls

Me and my fab SIL Stephanie

Me & Danny :)

Today, I think Danny and I are going to run a few errands but other than that just hang around and relax. Right now my awesome husband is downstairs making me breakfast while I sit here and do my treatments...I can smell the bacon...YUM!

IPHONE!!

Look at my new cell Phone!! I guess the saying is true...once you go Mac you don't go back! :)

Within the last month I have got my Macbook Pro (which is awesome!) my ipod touch, and now my new iphone (3GS....still to many problems with Iphone4!) Its to bad I had already had a Barnes & Nobles Nook before the Ipad was out! Oh well...On a side note, I am down to 25mg of prednisone today...woo hoo!!! LOL

New Macbook Pro!!

Hey guys!! I got a new laptop yesterday and I was playing around with the movie thing this morning so I am just doing a test video to see if I can upload it correctly...

This is my first experience with a Mac computer so I know absolutely nothing! Luckily I bought the one on one session thing so I can go in the store for some lessons because I seriously need them! lol

3 Wonderful Years!!

Today is my 3rd wedding anniversary to my wonderful husband!! I can't imagine what my life would be like without him.

It just doesn't seem fair that there is only one day a year to recognize the other 364 days of you putting up with me!! Thank you for being the best husband and best friend a girl could ask for. I Love You!!