Happy Birthday to Me

Xmas dinos and blankets, Love our tree/

So, it's 1 AM and I have that boring, old run-of-the-mill type insomnia. It's not due to my symptoms, I'm just not able to stay asleep. Seems like a good time to catch up here.

Yesterday was my birthday, the day before was Xmas, I got to spend two awesome days with Melinda playing games, watching movies, and visiting with her family.

If this is the first place you're hearing about it, I AM on the transplant wait list. It was a bit anti-climactic because I was on the wait list but on hold while they sorted insurance details out. I didn't expect to be activated before the new year, but they got it done before Xmas. So now I'm waiting for a phone call that might come anytime day or night, and I'll have 6 hours to get to Seattle. My bag is packed.

Waiting for birthday pizza.

Symptomatically, I've had a couple of really rough days in the past week or two, but I'm currently doing fine. Every time things get rough, I feel like I'm teetering on the edge of needing the LVAD heart pump, but even that has become a less daunting prospect. Turns out the recovery time for the LVAD would be mitigated by my moving up significantly on the wait list, so it's not the extra 12-18 months I'd worried about. It might add no additional time at all, but no one can predict when the right heart will be available.

All-in-all, by biggest complaint these days is how bad my shortness of breath is. I can barely manage to walk a block at a reasonable pace, and two or three blocks at my snail's pace is enough to require a sit down. Doing things like laundry, dishes, and cooking has become a real challenge, and won't be possible for much longer. I vacuumed the rug the other day, it felt like I'd run a marathon.

Weight: 212.4, Symptoms: Severe shortness of breath and fatigue, mild nausea, some dizziness