Dec 20

Tis the season!

Posted in Lung Transplant

I  am PROUD to  say Merry Christmas! In the world today I proudly keep Christ is Christmas :)   2011 has been a great year with some really neat milestones &  goals that I accomplished. I’ll recap my year in a later post. For now I want to wish all a Merry Christmas!!

I’m working on a new project called  “BUG HUGS” I’m hoping to get it up and running in 2012. If anyone want to help or donate in any way please let me know or visit the “BUG HUGS” page tab at top of website.

 Merry Christmas from Bryan and I :)

 

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Dec 7

4 Yrs ago. . .ICU

Posted in Transplant

Today is a day to celebrate and reflect. I’m just 3 days away from my 4 year transplantiversary. . .this is the day every year that I think about what was my last few breaths I took on my own. On 12.10.07 I was to the point of dementia. I didn’t really understand my surroundings but I knew one thing, I was in pain. I remember being really tired and wanted to sleep. I also remember feeling very thirsty and Orange Juice sounded so delicious. I was scared. I knew that no matter what happened I had done my part. I had done all I could. I didn’t give up on me & I am glad Bryan, Dr. Pilewski, the surgeons, the nurses, and friends and family didn’t give up on me either.

 

4 years ago today I talked to my dad on the phone. . .possibly for the last time. He asked me if I had carried my burden long enough. . . .

I answered “Yes”.  . .

 

I answered yes to that question for the first time in my life. I was willing to bear my burden for as long as I was asked to. I also believe we are never given more than we can handle. I had finally reached my end. I had carried my burden as long as I could. On this day Four years ago my faith and the faith & prayers of others was seen and heard by God and answered. I could no longer carry my weak, sick and diseased body for one more breath and I didn’t have to. The ventilator could do it for me. . .

When Bryan was approached about putting me on the ventilator, it was a decision he didn’t want to have to make. . . and definitely not make it alone. He says I told him to do it that I told him it was the right thing to do. I don’t remember telling him that, but I must have had an insider tip.

 

The Transplant team met & decided my life needed to be saved. Most centers would have listed all the many reasons I shouldn’t be a transplant candidate, but UPMC doctors looked at my case and said “Why Not?” Paul my pre-transplant coordinator began working on getting me listed and by the end of December 7th 2007 I was listed at the TOP of the transplant list. I was listed with a Lung Allocation Score of around 90. . .most people are listed  in the 30′s.

 

I was in the ICU and the Ventilator was now breathing for me, I was resting peacefully . . . and the wait began. . .

Photobucket 

         Save a Life…Be Someone’s Hero…    

 Be An Organ Donor!

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Dec 2

LOVE Christmas!

Posted in Apartment, family

I really, really love Christmas~ I love the feeling and the atmosphere. Ironically I have not spent a Christmas home with our families for the 4 years I have celebrated with my new lungs. In 2007 I was in Pittsburgh recovering from my transplant. In 2008 we had just moved to Phoenix so Bryan could start school the first of December. 2009 we were still in Phoenix. . .2010 we had just moved from Phoenix to Oklahoma so Bryan could start his new job with the Harley Davidson shop here in Norman. And this year. . .2011. . .we thought we would try to make the trip home for Christmas however, with Bryan’s job winters are apparently going to be tough. So as much as I would love to visit family, it’s just not going to be this year. Maybe 2012 will be the year & It would be a good year since it would mark my 5  year transplantiversary :)

So although we spend this time a year away from our family we always keep them in our thoughts and hearts. We miss out on the family parties we also miss out on the passing around of germs, colds, and the flu. haha!

I have my apartment all decorated for the holidays :)

Our Tree~

The Christmas Story Lamp. .. it’s a major award!My stocking and Bryan’s. . . .can you guess which one is mine ;)

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Nov 23

4 years ago. . .

Posted in Lung Transplant

4 years ago I was hanging on to what health I had left. I was praying for a miracle. I was thankful for every morning I woke up. I enjoyed every day I had to spend time with my husband. .my best friend. .my one true love. This picture was taken on Thanksgiving 2007 just before we feasted on yummy food. I have a hard time looking at “pre-transplant” pictures because I can see the anxiety of not being able to breathe. I can see what is behind the smile & I am glad I don’t have to feel that way anymore. I cannot say how much I’m thankful for no longer suffering without thanking my Donor and my donor family~ I cannot express the love and admiration I have for her. She is a HUGE part of my life despite not knowing anything about her. Her heart probably still beats and I KNOW her lungs are definitely still accomplishing wonderful things. I cannot begin to put into words how much my Donor means to me. I am also so very, very thankful for the love and compassion GOD has blessed me with.

Miracles happen. I was given a miracle. I am thankful for my life from beginning to end. . .and now my ‘second life’. I am thankful for every breath I take! I am thankful for every minute I get to spend making memories with my husband. I am thankful for LIFE.

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Nov 20

Breaking Dawn Part I

Posted in Twlight

The Directors Suite!!! So this is how the other 1% of the world live. lol. Notice the very velvety, comfortable fully automatic reclining seat along with a full menu and service right to your chair. The arm table swivels and has a light attached to it for Menu viewing. I didn’t have anyone sitting next to (which I LOVED) and the seat was wide enough to hold two of me~ The sound was amazing since the theater was much smaller than a normal one. It looked like it held about 30 people is all. Also the rows were wide enough that the feet could recline and still leave room for your server to easily move around in front of you :) These kinds of luxuries come at a price, but once in a while it’s worth the money!

So Breaking Dawn, I don’t want to give away anything in case someone hasn’t seen it or read the books and are planning on seeing it. All I can say is I did really like it. There are a few things I could criticize for sure, but over all I was entertained & not disappointing. Robert Pattenson’s performance was much better and he seemed more handsome in this movie than the previous ones. His hair was tamed down so maybe that’s it. lol. Kristen Stewart’s performance was tolerable. . .a little ‘emotionless’ but that’s the EMO performance the audience has come to expect right? I went into the movie with NO rumors or spoilers as to where and how they would end part one. . .and I was SPOT ON! I guessed exactly right down to the last shot :) I guess it was just where it made sense to stop it & how they would want a dramatic end! I  must just know movies. I only found one part to be a little cheesy and I laughed but every twilight movie has something ridiculous that I can’t watch without laughing at. Aside from not LOVING the cast to begin with .  . . I enjoyed this movie the best so far! I recommend that any twilight fan go see it & if you set your expectations where you have them from the previous films, then I bet you’ll be pleasantly surprised. I was!

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Nov 19

P90X

Posted in P90X

Yesterday was my Day One of P90X! Yep, I’m starting it up again. I just cannot sit here and not exercise. I started with Legs and Back. . and today I am pretty sore!! So that just solidifies how much I need to be doing this. I’ll post a pic of my Day One once I can get Bryan to take a pic of me. Whoohoo. . .ouch that hurt ;)

I’m in the process of getting a wordpress workout page. . .until then you can follow my progress on my blogspot workout blog.

JAMIEBUGWORKOUT.BLOGSPOT.COM

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Nov 15

Final Day for Voting

Posted in Lung Transplant, Readers digest contest

Today marks the final day for voting for the Readers Digest Life story contest. I didn’t the get the most votes, but I am in the top  out ofor so, so I may still have a pretty good chance of winning something & getting my story published.My story is #34 out of 4,800 based on votes alone. My story has been on the Editors Pick list since the day after I entered it and among those my story is #6, so I would say I have pretty a pretty good chance of at least being a finalist! Lets hope good things come from it. I would love to get my story published and raise awareness for CF/Cepacia and most of all how powerful and important being an Organ Donor is. Voting ends at midnight tonight & I am at around 1,030 votes! I am grateful for everyone who voted & especially for those that took the time and voted once every day :) I know there was a few that were very dedicated. I hope that if my story is picked I will be notified soon so I can post it on my blog. It would be such a wonderful thing. I wrote a book and submitted it for publishing a couple years ago. It was not picked up by the publishing company. . .but maybe my story still has a chance of reaching so many more people through this contest. If so it may open more doors for me to spread awareness and hope for those who are facing terminal illness and/or transplant.

After my transplant I had a very strong feeling to “write my story”. I thought that meant to write a book. . . I don’t regret the hundreds of hours I spent doing that, and when I got my rejection letter from the publishing company it made me think.  I realized that I was writing my story every day through my blog. I started with Blogspot (jamiebug.blogspot.com) and although it wasn’t wrapped in a fancy hard cover book, my story was reaching people that needed it & that is really all that matters. My blog has been one of my greatest accomplishments and it doesn’t matter whether it wins & get published, what matters is that I’m writing it.

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Nov 14

Breaking Dawn & the best husband ever :)

Posted in P90X

My husband is seriously AMAZING! Last week we came home from our date night & he surprised me with two tickets to Twilight: Breaking Dawn movie. . .not just any tickets, ‘Directors Suite’ tickets. These are for a special intimate, smaller Theater which only holds 25-30 people. AND it gets better!! The Suite only allows adults OVER 21, YEP. . .no annoying, prepubescent teens!!!!!!!! That is worth the extra money for the tickets alone :) I’m really looking forward to it~

The Twilight books/movies have been a big part of my post transplant recovery over the years. I used the book releases to mark dates to look forward to. . .dates to plan on living to see. Then the movies & I am honestly shocked that I am still alive and healthy to actually see the last movie (part one). . . .time really does fly by! So if you haven’t read/followed my blog and have not yet realized that I have the best husband any woman could ever dream of having, then this gesture should speak volumes. . . He’s taken me to EVERY ONE of the twilight movies AND he has bought them when they are released. . . .then watched them with me AGAIN :) This weekend will be another one to remember, I get to spend it with my BEST FRIEND and he won’t complain once about it.

**THE HUNGER GAMES**

The Hunger Games Movie & Twilight Breaking Dawn part 2 will be my “looking forward to’s” of 2012! Oh and the transplant games, and Dec 2012 will be my 5 year transplantiversary. . .I’ll have to plan something BIG!  :) LOTS of awesome stuff happening in 2012!

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Nov 7

Earthquakes & Tornadoes!?

Posted in P90X

Oklahoma is an interesting place to live. In the last few days we’ve had beautiful mid-high 70′s and sunshine, Saturday Night we had a pretty good earthquake which shook our apartment pretty good. It scared Bryan. He was dead asleep and it woke him up. He was a little freaked out. I guess earthquakes aren’t super common but small ones aren’t uncommon. This one was about 40 or so miles from us & we felt it! It measured like a 5.2 or 5.6 or something.

THEN today they’re intense, violent tornadoes just south of us! At least 2 LARGE ones touched down! I am praying it stays away from us. Bryan is at work and he’ll have to come home early if the storm moves this way!! So far it’s a safe enough distance from us. . .but tornadoes can move fast and could come our way later today. Seriously crazy Oklahoma weather. I honestly didn’t know what the weather/seasons were like here before we moved here. haha. At least Tornadoes are for the most part, predictable & warnings can be issued ahead of time.

I’m just hoping for a mellow Winter! Maybe that’s too much to ask for?

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Nov 5

Change

Posted in P90X

Well, It’s time for change. . . again. I really gave my natural color a shot. I wore it for almost 8 months!! That is a record in the world of “jamiebug”. One thing I enjoy is changing my hair color. I added some red. . okay, so a lot of red :) I was actually growing my hair out with the intentions of going red. It is FINALLY long enough I don’t think the red looks bad, I’m surprised how much I LIKE it!


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