Tuesday, June 28, 2011
When life is going well , how easy it is to take it for granted
We never think it could happen to us/ My Road to Transplant
I wanted to be a nurse for as long as I can remember. I started my career as a new graduate at a local hospital, and worked there for 29 years. The last 26 years were in the Emergency Department. I loved the pace and challenge of being in Emergency medicine. I loved helping others, and always tried to care for people as I would want to be treated. Little did I know I would soon be the one who needed care.
I was healthy and athletic my whole life. I ate well, exercised, and did all I could to take care of myself. One morning in December 2003, I woke up with what I thought was the “flu”. It was the season; it was rampant in the ER.(Emergency Dept) Many patients as well as staff had the same thing. Feeling a little guilty for calling in sick due to short staffing, I stayed in bed with my aches, fever, and sniffles for one day, and went back to work as usual. Weeks passed, and I continued to feel tired and just could not kick it. I blamed it on too many hours, hormones, age, you name it. I would go home after my 12 plus hour shift, and try to run with my dog. I could not even get past 2 houses without feeling short of breath.
I took myself to the ER Jan 7, 2004. I knew something was really wrong, but wanted to deny it. I found out I was in CHF, (congestive heart failure)I had cardiomyopathy(enlarged heart) caused by a virus and had a large fluid collection (effusion) around my right lung. All my valves were leaking and I was in trouble. I met my cardiologist that day. I remember him putting his arm around me and telling me he’d get me through this. For three and a half years he was not only my cardiologist but became my friend as well. We remain friends to this day.
After that it was a blur of constant illness and procedures. First, a Mitral valve repair and then 6 months later a Tricuspid valve repair. In between, multiple hospital admissions for CHF, arrhythmias, (irregular heart beats)cardioversions (electrical shocks to return your heart to normal rhythm) and multiple thoracentesis ( needle drainage of fluid from around the lung)for effusions. Almost weekly, a liter or so was taken out of my chest. We could not get my CHF under control. In December 2006, a thoracotomy(open chest surgery) was done to re-expand my right lung and remove all scar tissue. That stopped the fluid around my lung, but it went to my abdomen instead, making me unable to eat. I dropped to 98 lbs on my 5’5’’ frame. I looked and felt terrible. I went frequently to have fluid drained from my abdomen.
I went to Shands Hospital in Gainesville in April 2006. They tried to manage me medically. I continued with the same problems, and by November I was in a downward spiral. I felt my time running out. I felt so bad; it would have been okay to die. I did not want to, but it would be okay.
I was placed on the transplant list March 22, 2007. I prayed to God to give me the chance to live, and the gift would not be wasted. I also prayed to go home even for a day, to see my husband, my home, my cat, and sleep in my own bed for perhaps the last time. I went home after two weeks with a dobutamine drip to wait for a heart. This is a medicine that forces the heart to pump harder, and wears it out more quickly. At this point, I only had weeks to live and would have died without a transplant.This was my last and final option.
Before I was sent home, I had started to feel the sense of something BIG coming. I just knew.
The phone rang at home 36 hours later and I heard the words, “Debra, we have a heart for you”. I think I cried all the way to Gainesville. At some point, a feeling of peace came to me, and I knew I’d be okay. I was getting my chance.
Easter morning, April 8, 2007, God gave me the most wonderful gift. He and a 29 year old woman, through her unselfish act of donation, gave me back my life. I am a new person, and I’m doing great. My life is now be committed to promoting organ donor awareness and education. I am a living example of the miracle it is.
That’s my story , the condensed version. It’s hard to believe four years have flown by and here I am on a path I never imagined. Four years ago I picked up a new camera, and that opened the door to a new path in my journey. More on all this later...
I wanted to be a nurse for as long as I can remember. I started my career as a new graduate at a local hospital, and worked there for 29 years. The last 26 years were in the Emergency Department. I loved the pace and challenge of being in Emergency medicine. I loved helping others, and always tried to care for people as I would want to be treated. Little did I know I would soon be the one who needed care.
I was healthy and athletic my whole life. I ate well, exercised, and did all I could to take care of myself. One morning in December 2003, I woke up with what I thought was the “flu”. It was the season; it was rampant in the ER.(Emergency Dept) Many patients as well as staff had the same thing. Feeling a little guilty for calling in sick due to short staffing, I stayed in bed with my aches, fever, and sniffles for one day, and went back to work as usual. Weeks passed, and I continued to feel tired and just could not kick it. I blamed it on too many hours, hormones, age, you name it. I would go home after my 12 plus hour shift, and try to run with my dog. I could not even get past 2 houses without feeling short of breath.
I took myself to the ER Jan 7, 2004. I knew something was really wrong, but wanted to deny it. I found out I was in CHF, (congestive heart failure)I had cardiomyopathy(enlarged heart) caused by a virus and had a large fluid collection (effusion) around my right lung. All my valves were leaking and I was in trouble. I met my cardiologist that day. I remember him putting his arm around me and telling me he’d get me through this. For three and a half years he was not only my cardiologist but became my friend as well. We remain friends to this day.
After that it was a blur of constant illness and procedures. First, a Mitral valve repair and then 6 months later a Tricuspid valve repair. In between, multiple hospital admissions for CHF, arrhythmias, (irregular heart beats)cardioversions (electrical shocks to return your heart to normal rhythm) and multiple thoracentesis ( needle drainage of fluid from around the lung)for effusions. Almost weekly, a liter or so was taken out of my chest. We could not get my CHF under control. In December 2006, a thoracotomy(open chest surgery) was done to re-expand my right lung and remove all scar tissue. That stopped the fluid around my lung, but it went to my abdomen instead, making me unable to eat. I dropped to 98 lbs on my 5’5’’ frame. I looked and felt terrible. I went frequently to have fluid drained from my abdomen.
I went to Shands Hospital in Gainesville in April 2006. They tried to manage me medically. I continued with the same problems, and by November I was in a downward spiral. I felt my time running out. I felt so bad; it would have been okay to die. I did not want to, but it would be okay.
I was placed on the transplant list March 22, 2007. I prayed to God to give me the chance to live, and the gift would not be wasted. I also prayed to go home even for a day, to see my husband, my home, my cat, and sleep in my own bed for perhaps the last time. I went home after two weeks with a dobutamine drip to wait for a heart. This is a medicine that forces the heart to pump harder, and wears it out more quickly. At this point, I only had weeks to live and would have died without a transplant.This was my last and final option.
Before I was sent home, I had started to feel the sense of something BIG coming. I just knew.
The phone rang at home 36 hours later and I heard the words, “Debra, we have a heart for you”. I think I cried all the way to Gainesville. At some point, a feeling of peace came to me, and I knew I’d be okay. I was getting my chance.
Easter morning, April 8, 2007, God gave me the most wonderful gift. He and a 29 year old woman, through her unselfish act of donation, gave me back my life. I am a new person, and I’m doing great. My life is now be committed to promoting organ donor awareness and education. I am a living example of the miracle it is.
That’s my story , the condensed version. It’s hard to believe four years have flown by and here I am on a path I never imagined. Four years ago I picked up a new camera, and that opened the door to a new path in my journey. More on all this later...
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