Living on the frontlines

I don’t want to be a cliché. People that get a “second chance” at life are supposed to tell everyone else how much they should appreciate life. The roses smell sweeter. The sunsets are more vibrant. Blab blab blab ba. The thing is, a lot of days, it is true. There are days when it mystifies me that marching bands aren’t walking down the street every day followed by fireworks every evening because I’m still here. (How is that for self-involved!?!) I mean it in the sense that there are so many reasons why I shouldn’t still be here. The cliché annoys me because it assumes no one really appreciates living until they nearly die. That isn’t me. I appreciate living enough that I fought like hell to still be here. I may be broke. I may not have a lot of the things in life you’re supposed to have at, ummm….middle age….but I do have a strong sense of purpose. I’ve spent most of my life not assuming I’m going to live forever, and I know I’m not the only one. So, I’m not going to lecture anyone ab

Actually, as I write this, it isn’t one year post transplant. It’s 13 months post transplant! WooHoo! And the best part is I’m not tardy posting because I’ve been at medical appointments or too tired. I haven’t posted because I’ve been too busy! Really busy, with my old fashioned normal stuff!!! I’ve felt more like myself in the past three weeks than I have in a long time. My legs are still a problem, but they are improving. I’m still having trouble with stairs and inclines, but more from a leg standpoint than a breathing standpoint. Mind you, if the old legs would work I might get out of breath, but when you’re moving very carefully, it isn’t very cardio-vascular. These past few weeks I achieved some big personal milestones – big to me anyway. I attended the 26th Annual HPS Network Conference. My dad called to ask how the conference went. I’m embarrassed to say that before my little brain could process all the great things that happened at conference, my very first thought was – it

We have added another HPSer to the registry! This puts us at 97 to go on the Hundred People Search!