Transplant Games Post #3, 7/14-7/17
7/14 Monday:
If you want to see photos, check out: http://s350.photobucket.com/albums/q439/teamnorcal08/?albumview=slideshowv
I will try to make my last post about the fabulous Transplant Games a bit shorter. After a full swim and piping day, I slept deeply and woke up late, around 8:30am on Monday morning. But I still tossed and turned at night worrying about my sprints and felt tired.
We had a relaxed breakfast of bagels and peanut butter with my parents in our room. Then we piled into our car and once again headed to Carnegie Mellon. It was a beautiful day with blue sky and scattered clouds, but no rain as predicted. It wasn’t too hot either. We couldn’t ask for better! The track was just outside the swimming pool and had much more spectator space. The minute I got there I saw Lara kick ass on the long jump- 9 foot 7 inches! Not bad for someone around 5 feet! She ended up winning the bronze medal and I was sooooo proud of her! I wandered around the track looking for Tiffany (a five-time kidney recipient), and our newest member of the 100m x 4 women’s relay, Tina (a kidney recipient). The night before I got a call from the 4th runner saying she couldn’t do it because her tennis match conflicted with the time. We called other Team Nor Cal women and Tina was the only one able to run. She made it possible for us to have a relay team! She was sweet and enthusiastic but also said, “I’ve never done this before.” When we finally found her I registered the team and grabbed a baton and in the corner of the track we practiced the baton handoff: right-left-right-left. I gave Tina a few tips and we figured Tiffany would go first, I would be second, pass to Tina and then she’s pass to Lara, our fastest runner, who’d bring it home. We waited for over an hour in the heat and watched people do the long jump, high jump and the impressive 100m dash. I cheered on my friends: Dottie from New England who has CF, Paul F. who has CF, and people I didn’t even know who just seemed to need screaming fans. I screamed my brains out (I decided these great lungs make me have a very powerful scream) to root on Tom M., my dear lung recipient friend. He came in second in his heat and made it to the finals! I was so moved to see people do their very best. There were many older men sprinting. Sadly in each heat, there was always one who collapsed shortly after starting, or stopped midway limping in pain! The cheers crescendo’d each time an injured runner hopped to the finish line! In the teen group, there was a skinny handicapped boy who came in last but received the loudest cheers, because even if his legs didn’t work he was RUNNING. These 100m spurts of energy are extraordinarily inspiring, no matter what the age or ability. The children ran a 50m sprint and it was so inspiring to see kids as young as 2 1/2 running straight into their parents’ arms! One girl was very handicapped and in a wheelchair. An adult pushed her and ran when the gun went off, then 10m before the finish line, stopped, grabbed the child out of the wheelchair, and the girl limped and hobbled to the finish line, amidst loud cheers! She had a massive smile on her face! These are the heart-warming moments of these Games. Lots of tears.
I found out my friend Lorma, who received her heart-lung transplant at Stanford in 2005, was going to run the 100m relay also, for Team Maryland. Though she was my competitorJ, we spent some precious moments in the center of the track, as I coached her on stretches and warm up, and carrying the baton. I gave her tips to not injure herself- most important. She said nervously, “I’ve never done this before.” This was such a celebration! I remember her boney and breathless, in a wheelchair, waiting for her transplant at Stanford! She has suffered so much after a lifetime of congenital heart defect struggles, including two cardiac arrests. I remember asking her, “What do you want to do after your transplant?”, and she said, “I just want to run.” And here we were, at the 2008 Transplant Games, getting ready to RUN. Praise God. Finally, it was time to line up. My blood boiled with adrenalin and we girls lined up, rooting each other, laughing and smiling at this POSSIBILITY. We wished each other luck, and got into our spots along the track. The gun went off, and Tiffany FLEW toward me as she ran the curve, ahead of most other runners. She had nice long strides and really did a fabulous job! She perfectly handed me the baton and I took off, running as fast as I could as the crowds’ cheers moved me ahead. I moved the baton slightly in my arm to have enough room to pass it, which was risky. It was all so fast, but I noticed there was no one near me. I saw Tina start to accelerate just as I was losing my energy and I really struggled to reach her. Then I slammed the baton in her hand and she took off (later she showed me a huge bruise on her palm because I guess I was rather eager!). I saw my feet step out of the lane just as I passed the baton, and the official raised the red flag… that meant I was disqualified. Rather than scream and cheer Tina, I was overcome with disappointment that I messed up everything for my team. I was sooooooo bummed out. From a distance I saw the nice handout from Tina to Lara, who then flew like a rocket down the straight away and came in second, after Philadelphia (they are always awesome- lots of young girls). I first saw Lorma coming toward me, and I raised my arms and embraced her saying, “You ran! You ran!” because her team did great -coming in third. This soothed my disappointment, because this celebration is more important than winning. But I felt so guilty for ruining my teammates’ pleasure and if I had a tail it would’ve been between my legs. When Lara, Tiffany and Tina came to me cheering I had to confess how sorry I was that I DQ’d the team because of the red flag and stepping out of the lane. I went up to the stands and told Lara’s parents and her dad yelled at me, “WHAT?” and I felt even worse. Then all of a sudden over the loudspeaker they announced the winners, and Team Maryland came in second, and Team Nor Cal came in FIRST!!!!!! We came in at 1:18, under 20 seconds per runner! Apparently, Team Philly was DQ’d but I didn’t see the runner was right behind me in my leg so the flag was raised for them! I felt bad to be happy that we won at the expense of a very, very disappointed Team Philly. That didn’t seem fair. But as Tom G would say, “You gotta play by the rules.” Again, this was another miracle. To celebrate a GOLD in the relay with three other women who had never been to the Games, who had never done this before, was absolutely amazing! I was especially proud of Lara given all her medical crap she has been dealing with! She was truly a track superstar, reliving her high school glory days to our benefit!
A true highlight was half an hour later at the awards ceremony. We got onto the medal stand with Lorma and her teammates next to us, along with Team New England with Dottie. Then our Team Nor Cal donor mother, Zona Z., placed medals on each of us. We hugged and kissed her. She did the same for Team New England. It was extremely special for Team Maryland, because Lorma won her silver borrowing the powerful heart and lungs of Zona’s 16 year old son Matt who died in a football accident. Zona and her family were on the Montel Williams Show last year to meet Lorma for the first time, and the Transplant Games were another reunion for them. Who would’ve imagined that Matt’s gift of life would also grant Lorma her dream of running, and a gold medal at that, and Zona and her husband and family were there to witness it? We had some time to relax and I attempted to eat half a sandwich but was overcome with nausea. I had another snickers and power gel loaded with caffeine. I tried to relax, but all I could think about was the terror I had about my upcoming 800m. I was already exhausted from the relay and prior 2 days and lack of sleep. As I walked back to the track, I was greeted by an older man in a suit- who was Dr. Thomas E. Starzl, the pioneer transplant surgeon at Univ. of Pittsburgh Medical Center who MADE TRANSPLANTATION POSSIBLE!!!! What a true honor! All I wanted to do was fall to my knees with gratitude. God bless this saint. The time came for my last event, my 800m. Andrew’s family as well as his friends Andrea and Lloyd (true marathoners) cheered me on. I felt almost sick with nerves and felt weak. I was just tired and I wanted this to be over with. When I lined up I was relieved there were 3 women in my age category- so at least we’d all leave with a medal. Again, every ounce of my being flooded with adrenalin at the start line. I wore Nancy’s old track shoes, that gave me her tremendous spirit to run like the wind. But the soles were loose so I duct-taped them on tightly. The spikes really helped to give traction and I started strong when the gun went off! After the first roundabout I merged to the inner lane and kept a steady pace. My lungs burned. I am slow to warm up and in no time I was panting. My throat was bone dry. How could I last another 1 1/2 laps!? But I just focused on one foot in front of the other, pushing with my quads. I passed one woman and then came to my formidable foe, and my legs pushed forward as I passed her. Then I knew I was ahead for my age group. The second lap started quickly and I kept thinking this is almost over. Everything hurt, and I removed my mind from my physical strain. I was breathing really hard and slowed down a bit, but Tom, Andrew, Andrea, and Lloyd’s cheers kept me going. Andrew kept yelling, “Think of Xavier! This is Xavier!” and he ran alongside me during the last stretch. On the last straight away I gave it my all and tried to sprint as much as my lungs would allow. I could muster a smile as I crossed the finish line, 20 seconds before the other person in my age category. My time was the best I’ve ever done: 3 minutes and 50 seconds (my practice runs were 4:20-30). Xavier did this for me!!!! His excellent lungs allowed me to win a gold– again. Praise God. What a moment.
My muscles shook and it took me a long time to recover my breath. My mouth was so parched I guzzled water. Now the real relief started. I was done. I had survived the 2008 Transplant Games. After I watched Lara kick butt in the 200m race, I went to the medal stands and allowed my loving husband Andrew to place a gold medal over my head. He deserved it, for being my greatest cheerleader and supporter all along. All week I barked orders at him to help me out and finally he deserved a medal. He said by community property law it belonged to himJ. Exhausted, heat stricken, spirits high but body low, we went back to the hotel for a cozy dinner with the Byrnes/Stenzel family. I was energized by a phone call from Stacey C., another lung recipient friend who had a tough medical year, to report that she won a SILVER medal in badminton after 7 rounds! It was a tough battle and she had to pause to catch her breath, but with her perseverance she did it!!! I was so proud of her!
At dinner, I played with my beautiful niece and cherished calmer time with my family. I was so grateful that everyone endured the heat, long waits and crowds to support me. I am the luckiest woman in the world to have such a great family! Afterwards we hung out a bit and then everyone retired. I left the room at 10pm and went downstairs to the Quilt Pinning Ceremony. This is a touching ritual where donor families make quilt squares for their loved ones and share a few words. It is truly a tear jerky. The ceremony was almost done when I got there but several donor family members came up to me and praised me for my piping yesterday. It is so bonding to just talk to these heroic parents. Some were from Arkansas, Missouri, New York, with different political and religious beliefs, but it didn’t matter. I feel a deep love for them like they are my own donor family. I landed in bed by 11:15- completely depleted. My mind rehashed the peaks of the day not long before all was quiet.
On Tuesday morning, I woke early again and by 8:30am head out with Andrew to North Park. My muscles were not even sore but just weak so it took effort to move. Ana went to play volleyball for Team Nor Cal, but I didn’t go. I wanted to support Tom M. at the cycling event. We got to the park and found Team Nor Cal cyclers Tom, Neal and Jerry all ready for their 5K race. Andrew and I tried to walk to the start line but it was a long road ahead. We enjoyed a romantic morning stroll, arm in arm, along a creek and lake, in this beautiful rural Pittsburgh. It was getting hot and we thought we’d miss the start so we turned back and waited at the finish line. I screamed my head off and snapped photos when each of these guys came in. Tom made 7th place! The kids did a 1K afterwards and I screamed when our only Team Nor Cal child, 6 year-old Colby, came in to the finish line. He was so adorable! We waited a very long time for the 20K to start, after lunch. Andrew and I got take-out and went to a picnic table in the shade, and this day ended up being a romantic outing for us! I cheered Tom M, Neal and Jerry as they sped past me for the first loop of the long hilly route. Tom came in at 28 minutes for the first loop and then exactly one hour to reach the finish. He did such an amazing job as a first-timer and lung recipient. Most of the guys were serious competitive road cyclers with all the proper gear, so it is a really tough event to win. All three did fabulous, even without medals.
Andrew and I wanted to make it back to volleyball to watch Ana but heard they had lost by mid-afternoon. This is unusual for Team Nor Cal, who usually wins a medal. Oh well, other teams can have their glory. We returned to the hotel briefly to nap and wash up, but then went straight back to the convention center for our team dinner. It was so great to see all our teammates in their matching shirts laughing and talking about the events of the Games. People who used to be part of Team Nor Cal came, as did Lorma and her family. Our former team manager Mark G. stole a banner with Ana and me on it and presented it to usJ. People gave speeches about how they felt about the Games, and tears were shed. We signed thank you’s for our sponsors and the speeches just kept coming and coming, showing how close-knit our team had become. Finally it was time for a quick photo and time to leave. As a team we took a bus to the Closing Ceremony. The Closing Ceremony was at the local UofP basketball arena and was another collection of beautiful songs, speeches and awards. Tom G. and I sat in the front row ready to present Ana an award. When the time came for her to receive the Making Lives Better Award, she tearfully came down from the nosebleed section. She gave a speech of gratitude to her donor families and shared how Dawn had just died waiting for lungs and a kidney, so more work needs to be done with signing up organ donors so this doesn’t happen. I was very proud of her, for this award she deserved so much.
Team Arizona won the Team Cup for winning the most medals per athlete. The Closing Ceremony ended with a video montage of the Games highlights, which featured a few of our team members. It concluded with the announcement of the 2010 Games in MADISON, WISCONSIN. I was disappointed it was again so far from California. My goal is to be well and able to attend the Games with Ana, Lara, Tom, Lorma and so many of my friends in 2010. Will YOU consider coming?!?!? We stuck around for the dance party briefly but then left around 11pm. I tried desperately to trade my remaining Team Nor Cal pins. I forgot to mention that pin trading is a long-time tradition and a great way to chat with strangers. Each team has a unique pin and the goal is to get one pin from every team represented. It is so much fun!
We said sad goodbyes to so many new and old friends from all over the country. So much love among even people whose names I forget. We reached the hotel and crashed by 12:30am. I lay in bed depleted, emotionally overwhelmed, high, happy, thankful, amazed, in awe and thoroughly fulfilled at the completion of the 2008 Games. Not that it’s about winning, and not that I intend to brag, but there were nine medals between the Stenzel twins, three for newly transplanted Ana and one for every event I entered, three for Lara, one for Stacey, one for Lorma (or did she get one in bowling?), two for Tiffany and so many other victories made me so proud of all of us. This has been the best Games ever. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that we slept in late on Wednesday, 7/16, and I woke up feeling like I’d been hit by a truck. I was coming down, way down, from my week of adrenalin. We mailed off some Breathing Room images that we had shown at the EXPO, and in the afternoon, we took a nice trolley tour with Andrew and Trent of the city of Pittsburgh. It was a beautiful clear day and we enjoyed to learn about the history of this city. We had lunch at 3pm and then returned to the hotel to prepare for our Cystic Fibrosis Center/ Pediatric Lung Transplant Program talk at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Medical Center that evening. The staff prepared a gorgeous venue for the First Annual Carrie Martin Memorial Lecture… and we were the speakers! Carrie Martin was a 15 year old lung recipient whose family generously supported the purchase of books for each attendee. Our talk was very well-received even though I was nearly depleted in energy. We were treated like royalty and had the honor of distinguished physicians like Dr. David Orenstein present. We chatted with each attendee as we slowly signed books, and left at 10:30pm. Apologies to the wonderful staff!
We got to the hotel super late and exhausted. Andrew woke very early to fly to Austin, and I slept one hour later and rushed to the airport to catch my 9am flight. Ana and Trent rented a car to drive to Washington DC for more siteseeing. I slept in the plane and arrived home 2 hours after I landed thanks to public transportation from SFO to Redwood City. I was thoroughly emotionally and physically fulfilled. I picked up Rupie and bought blessed California produce which I devoured for dinner. Thank you for reading this long post again. I guess I did it again. Brevity is not my strong point! I just wanted to give you the thorough report on the Games so that you too may be inspired to attend, if you are a recipient or interested friend. I hope these stories allow you to reflect on the emotional highs of your life, and if there are few, how you can be involved to find more of them. The Transplant Games epitomize what life is all about- celebrating being alive, cherishing health and making the most of our physical abilities, that loss and life are intimately connected, that love and generosity are healing to even those who’ve suffered the worst pain, that sickness is sometimes redeemed in health and that the weak do become strong. Thank you to all my medical caregivers, my family, my friends, and my donor family who’ve helped to allow me to experience these life-affirming moments. God bless you and have a beautiful week.Love, Isa