The Life and Lungs of Kim

Six months ago today, I received two wonderful, life-saving lungs.  It still catches me off guard that I can run errands in the morning and still have energy for a walk in the evening.  I can bend down to pick up a pile of clothes from the floor and not be out of breath on my way back up.  Scot and the kids have to catch up to ME when we’re walking together.  I can hop in the shower without all the effort to protect my central IV site.   I’m still seeing people for the first time since surgery and I see them try to place the differences in me: my coloring, the shape of my face, my shorter hair (have I mentioned my hair's starting to fall out?), the scars on my neck – it’s all just a little different than the Kim of last fall. My body is still in healing mode.  Although I deal with many side effects from my 17+ daily meds, my biggest issue right now is combating the migraine headaches I’m getting.  Migraines occur, in the 20% of the population who are...

We've established that I’m feeling stronger than before transplant and that we are pleased.  We, however, are starting to see some other effects that are discouraging: notably, the weight gain. (And perhaps the use of the royal We.  Like it’s not MY weight gain, it’s OUR weight gain.  And since it’s your damn fault, please stop.) In addition to blaming my chunkiness on you, I can also easily blame it on the drugs I’m taking but truth of the matter is I’m lazy.  And man, do I ever have an awesome excuse (uh, new lungs.  Duh.) but it’s getting more difficult to use that, being five months out and not consistently exercising.  And eating.  Oh, the eating.  Do you know what happens when you bake a batch of cookies “for the family” but said family is gone all day and you’re at home?  You eat.  The batch.  Of cookies.  And my brain!  The noggin ain’t what it used to be.  In fact, I’m writing this now though I...

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 beh...

I have a cold!  A marvelously mundane, run-of-the-mill, COLD!  Never before (and probably never again) have I been this happy to have a sore throat, cough and runny nose.  See, I've spent these past three months worried about my super-suppressed immune system and what was going to happen once I contracted some virus (despite my masks and copious amounts of hand sanitizer): Would it settle into my new lungs and compromise them?  Would a mere ordinary virus render me incapacitated somehow?   Will a strong cough hurt my still-healing sternum? Turns out, none of the above.  I, being the mere mortal that I am, can get sick just like all y’all.  So bring on the tissue (and Sudafed!  For the first time in 7 years, I’m allowed to have regular cold medicines!  THESE ARE VICTORIES, PEOPLE.). I’ll be sniffing, snorting and hacking here at home with a big ol’ smile on my face. And in other update-news: I had clinic today at UW...

Tomorrow, I turn 41.  The past 12 months have been (pick a word, any word...) miraculous, challenging, heartening, triumphant..and way more.  Coming full circle, I'm taking the time to remember how awesome my 40th birthday was, surrounded by family and friends, and so fancy!  And I'm celebrating how lucky I am to be here a year later, having gone through so much.  I know I've said it before but I am incredibly grateful to hundreds of people -- my donor, all the medical professionals, my husband and mom, my family, my friends and even more folks who I don't know but are friends of you all and have been following this craziness and providing YOU with support and love. The slideshow shown at my party (still so wonderful, Deb!): http://nunesfamily.com/direct/KimsParty/Kims40thSlideshow_FromDeb.mp4 A slideshow of my party: http://nunesfamily.com/direct/KimsParty/KimsPartySlideshow_FromPhotographer.mp4 (If any problems opening those up, you...

Last weekend marked my two-month lungaversary.  It is a little stunning to me that it’s only been two months since we got The Call that Saturday evening about a set of lungs that may work and that I should come into the hospital to start the process. On Monday, October 15, I was granted an exception to my Lung Allocation Score and that put me at or darn near the top of UW’s lung transplant waiting list. Seven weeks later, I received my first call that there was a potential match and that I should come into the hospital…but after 18 hours of waiting, the donor lungs were too damaged to transplant so I was sent home.  The next 10 days after that are a blur: lots of holiday gift buying, decorating, planning; busy kid schedules; a brief respite from the hustle with a restful and luxurious visit to a spa, followed a few days later by an ambulance ride to the ER for some stitches in my chin after passing out.  On Saturday, December 15, we got The Call Part Two – Scot and I...

Definition of Mulligan: a free shot sometimes given a golfer in informal play when the previous shot was poorly played Today was a banner day.  It started off a tad grumpy, with sister-in-law Robin and me hopping in the car at the ungodly hour of 6:15am to make our way to Seattle.  But our drive-thru coffees were delightful, traffic was smooth and we were at the University of Washington Medical Center by 7am to have a quick X-ray and then meet Scot at Dr. Mulligan’s office for my official post-op meeting.   Dr. Mulligan is my surgeon , whom I have only met once before (well, when I was conscious) and the reverence with which he’s treated by colleagues and staff is unparalleled. It was a pretty quick meeting, maybe 15-20 minutes but it was huge.  Among other things:  We FINALLY clarified how he opened me up!  He used a clamshell incision to cut the skin under the breast, from armpit to armpit (this is where he took care to avoid any cosmetic implication...