Life is Increasingly Uneventful -- HOORAY!

It's almost 4 1/2 months post transplant.  I've been thinking for weeks that I should write an update...but man, am I ever boring now (woo hoo!  Boring RULES!).  I'm just plugging along and I have nothing particularly exciting to share but here it is anyway:

• I graduated last week from physical therapy!  I walked up five flights of stairs (followed by a loooooong rest to get my oxygen back up and heart rate down. But still.)  I've got a list of a dozen or so exercises I'm supposed to continue doing to increase my strength, mobility and flexibility (a sign that I'm a normal person again: "supposed to" is the key phrase there.  I'm a huge slacker and will never get to my goal of playing tennis this summer if I don't buckle down.) 
• This month is organ donation month and I was inspired to finally put my words to paper and send a letter to my donor's family (I've known since February that my lungs are from a woman in her 50s who left behind a husband and two adult daughters.)  Many transplant recipients send thank you letters to their donor's family but I have been unable to start that letter until now -- I mean, where does one even begin?! I fervently hope it brings them a measure of comfort as they continue to cope with the loss of their wife and mother.  
• When I dropped off my letter at LifeCenter Northwest (they coordinate the anonymous communication between donor and recipient), I talked to a woman there (an aside: the people who work there are truly angels.  They exude a grace, a calm and kindness that is infectious.  It takes a pretty special person to do the job they do) and she invited me to attend a "Gift of Life" ceremony in Olympia at the State Capitol.  It happened to be the Monday of spring break, when Scot and the kids were in California, so I was thrilled to be able to attend (and made all the better by dinner and a movie with Joby, a brief hello with the Gov and lunch with Trudi).  A very touching event, though there exists, at least in my mind, a strange relationship between donor families and recipients: their greatest tragedy is the reason the recipient is alive.  And although it's comforting to know that their loved one saved or enhanced someone else's life, I imagine it's very bittersweet. 
• Still on 15 meds -- of those, only 4 are the heavy duty, anti-rejection drugs; the remaining 11 meds are to combat the side effects of those drugs.  But I'm happy to report that my side effects are mostly manageable now: tremors aren't near as bad (though I think I'm still a ways away from doing calligraphy again); heart palpitations aren't as frequent; no more weird bruising; my chest tightness is a ton better, though my sternum is still sore; and, importantly, my cheeks have gone down some though maybe that's an optical illusion, as the REST of me has, erm, *increased*.  Welcome back, Tryhorn rearie!
• I lied about manageable side effects.  My new-ish side effect is a crazy, horrible, debilitating headache.  I first had it in early March and stayed in bed for 12 hours (well, when I wasn't running to the bathroom to barf).  Then again a couple weeks later -- and that time, I landed in the hospital overnight, since we couldn't stop the vomiting.  And now I'm getting them every few days.  It's a searing pain, over one eye or the other, that lasts anywhere from 12-24 hours (but no vision/aura thing like migraines that I've had before.  This feels like a very, very bad hangover.  NOT THAT I KNOW WHAT THAT IS, MOM).  When I feel it starting, I take a tylenol, an ambien and an anti-nausea pill, cancel all my plans and just wait it out.  And Scot picks up all the slack.  Thankfully, I was able to bypass the six month wait at UW's headache clinic and I'm scheduled to see those doctors this coming Monday afternoon.  Here's hoping we find a fast and easy solution and one that doesn't require too many more meds!
• My next transplant clinic appointment is Monday, May 6 so this has been a month between clinics, which is awesome (that doesn't mean it's been a month since I've been to UW or seen doctors, of course...see "overnight hospital stay" above and my weekly lab and lung tests).

It's so nice to be back to the delightfully mundane: kids' copious activities, cooking, shopping, yelling at the dog, building my strength up, trying to figure out what I want to do with the rest of the life.  "Officially" I'm not thinking about that until my self-imposed timeline of six months post tx but my trip to Olympia stirred the pot a bit.  I miss my career and feel, for the first time in years, that maybe I'll have the energy to manage work/family.  Maybe.  Down the road.  But I'm not thinking about it yet so stop pressuring me.