Well, Dad is doing really good. I saw him Saturday and he looks terrific. After dieting and exercising for several weeks you can tell that it is paying off. I like to congratulate him on his good work, it can’t be easy to make that many changes at once.! Love you Dad
Hello there.
It’s been a while since I wrote last, I guess life has just been busy — in a good way.
My health has been real good. I had a doctor’s appointment on April 15 and the results were positive. My lung function has increased a slight bit which makes me very happy. The docs always said that my lung function would never be as good as after my first surgery, but my numbers have climbed to 2005 results. There I go proving those doctors wrong..again. If proving them wrong were a job, I would be a millionaire. So everything health-wise is good. I have a broncoscophy scheduled for May 15 where I’ll get real results regarding rejection, although since my lung function is good I probably do not have any rejection. I’m also contemplating a chemical peel on my face for mid-summer. It’s for both skin cancer issues and cosmetic purposes and I hope it goes well.
School has been quite a challenge…especially math. It’s such a struggle to understand it and keep it in my mind. The good news is that I have never done this well in a math class ever. The bad news is that I will probably have to take it again…..I’m making a C right now, but I have to pass a cumulative final in a few weeks and I’m just not sure I’ll do so well. We’ll, see..I’m not giving up; just trying to be realistic. I don’t want to move on if I’m having a hard time with this elementary stuff because I’ll never make it through the next class. All of my other classes are fine. I’m bummed that my philosophy class is over except for our final in a week and a half—I will be taking one summer course and that’s it.
The break from school will be nice. I plan on spending a lot of time with my nephews and niece. All three of them are growing up so fast. It’s so hard to believe Alex is going to be 13 in August!!!! He is really into having long hair right now and I am hoping to talk him into getting it cut so won’t look like a Jonas Brother anymore. Alex claims the girls at school really like it and I suspect that’s the reason he is keeping it long. Whatever the reason he looks so much better when it’s short because you can see his face. Jake is really coming into his own. He was asked to be on a select baseball team and he plays so hard. Actually I think he plays too hard for his age. But either way he is good little athlete. Sophia is also growing up too fast. I feel especially guilty when it comes to Soph because I was living in Cali when she was born and I feel that I missed out on too much of her early years. The kids love to hear stories about when they were little, but I have few Sophie stories. I’m hoping to make more memories with her this summer. On a sad note, Sophie got hurt last week. Steve and Chris’ front door broke and glass cut her leg. I believe she had to get 26 stitches. Steve and Chris said she was REALLY good. Sophie said it wasn’t too bad because she got ice cream. Cute! Let’s all hope her leg gets better real soon so she can get back hopin’ again.
Earth Day 2009 at Forest Park was a lot of fun. This is the first year I have participated and I’m thrilled that I went. The day was great, the people were great and premise was really important. It seems to me that people are really beginning to participate in helping mother earth.
Creagle and I went; we met up with Cindy, Adam, Elise and Corinne. We all had a blast! The girls were really good especially since it was a long day. The only time Corinne cried was when I accidentallyknocked her down and then proceeded to almost step on her. She scuffed up her knees, but she got over it in about two minutes. You have no idea how awful I felt! I blame it on the two beers I had to drink. Corinne loves Creagle! Corinne kept calling Creagle’s name and showing her the jewelry she gotten through the day. Elise is Cindy and Adam’s oldest and I can actually see her becoming a young girl rather that a baby girl right before my eyes. She’ll be going to kindergarten next year, yikes. Creagle had a blas, but I may have pushed her too much yesterday because she didn’t get out of bed until about 2 o’clock today and even then she moved so slowwwww. At the event Creagle met about 10 other beagles-it was crazy to see a ton of beagles in the same place all at once. It was if there was a beagle party that we weren’t invited to. At one point of the day Creagle started howling and barking like mad…at a horse. I guess she is prejudice to horses for some reason because she was physically upset about the horse being near her. She was such a good girl though! I’m already excited about Earth Day next year and I hope the event keeps growing more and more each year.
I know I mentioned Jennie earlier in the year and her fight with locating a second set of lungs. Here is a story forwarded to me from Second Wind. Sorry about the format!
Make a Miracle Happen:
They say if you fold a thousand cranes, you can make a miracle happen. And we called her Miracle Girl.
Jennie Sutton
Jennie’s transplant went very well, and for a time, we got a glimpse of a Jennie without disease. She could walk without help, could go out without an oxygen tank. In
She was going back to college, she told me. Her dream was to work in early childhood education, if her health would allow. But Jennie’s freedom was short-lived. Last fall, her body began to reject the new lungs, and soon, the doctors said there was no way to stop it. Jennie needed new lungs again.
Jennie hesitated at first to go through the process again. But in the end, she decided to fight.
On the one-year anniversary of her transplant, her re-birthday, we gathered to celebrate. We had to be quiet when Jennie spoke because she did not have enough breath to shout. She told us she had been accepted back onto the list as a good candidate for a transplant.
That’s when we started to fold the cranes.
Drawn from every color and pattern, from origami kits bought at stores to random pieces of paper. Nearly everyone folded the cranes, including my son, because we needed a miracle to happen. Jennie was getting weaker every day as we waited for lungs.
And waited.
There are more than 100,000 people on the transplant list, and every organ donor could save as many as 50 lives, and there still aren’t enough.
You do the math.
As long as I’ve known her, Selena has worn the kelly-green ribbon for organ transplant awareness. The frustration she experienced is something I cannot imagine; knowing that every day, perfectly good lungs were going into the ground and her daughter was left gasping for breath.
Imagine my surprise, as someone who has checked “organ donor” on her forms since she was 17, to turn over my driver’s license and discover that I am not actually an organ donor. I never signed the back of the license, you see. And you need to do more than that to become an organ donor — you should discuss it with your family and register with the Illinois Secretary of State’s office. If you haven’t done so since 2006, you might not be a donor.
In the end, there were 1,008 cranes decorating the waiting room of
She died waiting for lungs.
Perhaps the real miracle was that she got a breath of time without this wretched disease. Perhaps the gift she received was the chance to walk by the river, and perchance to dance. Her pain is over now.
But I am angry. I am furious on behalf of Jennie and Selena because if we all turned over our licenses there would be no need for a list. There would be no need for Selena to watch her daughter gasp away her last breath. We are not meant to bury our children; there is something innate in the human soul that forbids such a thing.
So I would ask of you this small favor. Turn over your driver’s license and sign it. Then make sure your family knows that this is what you want, and go to lifegoeson.com and sign up. You are not too old or too young, too sick or infirm. They will try just as hard to save you if you are hurt, and they will not push your family into a decision they’re not ready to make. If tragedy strikes your family, ensure that it will at least prevent another tragedy from taking place.
Because Jennie Sutton did not have to die.