Ana and Isa’s blog

Dear Friends and Ana supporters:
It has been nearly 3 weeks since I’ve written a post. I appreciate your continued interest in Ana’s recovery, even 5 1/2 weeks after her transplant. I want to thank our closest friends, Robin, Ann, Josh, Kerry, Ryuta and Kathleen, for watching Ana in my and my mother’s absence! We truly are grateful for your sacrificing your time and supporting Ana on your assigned day as her chauffeur, cook, and counselor. It has taken a huge load off my life and my mother’s. First and foremost I think we are all grateful for Trent’s support day and night when Ana was home right after her transplant. He continues to stand by her and makes her so happy!

I feel really grateful that I’ve been allowed to pursue my own life plans with the peace of mind that Ana was well-cared for. I have experienced a life-altering reunion in New Mexico, attended the fabulous CF retreat and conference and just returned from an exhilirating hike of Mt Lassen with my two transplanted friends Lara and Tom. Some might argue I’ve been very selfish to leave Ana in her fragile state. For her first transplant, I was with her constantly and we had little non-family support during her recovery. I feel so grateful that we are now surrounded by a huge network of friends that are so giving. It hit me today that for the first time in my life I have a healthy detachment from Ana’s experience, and by going off and doing my own thing it is actually pretty healthy for me. Ana has given her blessing for me to leave, and enjoy life on her behalf. After 35 years, we can actually finally lead separate lives, without guilt, enmeshment or separation anxiety. It’s about time we’ve grown up!

I enjoyed my favorite activity- hiking- in Santa Fe as well as Lassen. For both hikes, I was around 10,300-10,500 feet and was just fine. I hope and pray that Ana can hike with me again someday. It is just mind-boggling that the lungs I breathe with at these altitudes are not my own, and that they work so well. I want this to last forever! Lara and Tom, both one year-post lung transplant, kicked some ass by hiking to Lassen peak as well. I am so proud of them! We bonded as we did our nebulizers in the car at night, while Lara did her IV out the car window. I’m posting a photo of us three on the peak.

I am happy to report that Ana is doing quite well. She went to the doctor and all is well; her lung function is around 60%, the same as last week. She was a bit discouraged that the numbers were the same; she was anxious that she wasn’t exercising enough to expand her lungs. Today she came over to my house and we worked on our final copyedits of our book, which is due tomorrow. After we finished, we went on a one hour walk/hike through my neighborhood park, Stulsaft Park. Ana met with her second lover, my bassett dog Rupie, for the first time in 6 weeks and there was a lot of yapping, crying and squeaking with this reunion. On our hike Ana was able to walk uphill slowly but consistently, and breathed heavily but could do it! Here she is:

 I was so amazed at her determination. It reminded my of the note Sylvie gave Ana after her first bout of rejection to inspire hope: Lassen or Bust! I think Ana’s training to join us for Lassen already! She is still easily fatigued but can manage these long walks without collapsing afterwards. I am a bit worried that she is taking more risks this time around, by visiting CF retreat, shopping without her HEPA mask or being near my dog just 5 weeks post-transplant. I am nagging often, but we must have faith that her body is more immune to germs than what we fear.

I continue to be grateful to God for Ana’s miraculous 2nd transplant. I hope each day unfolds as the last 5 1/2 weeks have as well.
Thank you all for your love and care. I hope you are enjoying your August and are surrounded with joy and love. Love always, Isa

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 21st, 2007 at 1:09 am and is filed under Life Status. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.