The journey...

From start to finish, the transplant process is an emotional journey for patients and care givers alike. For me the journey started almost 3 years ago and continues as I write this. On June 13, 2006 I was officially placed on the UNOS transplant list as a potential heart recipient. At the time, I lived in Boise Idaho and was 40 yrs into a congenital heart disease called tetrology of Fallot. I had always had a "bad heart" so the possibility of reaching this point was there all along. It just never seemed like reality to me. On June 13th 2006 it became reality. Honestly, I had a rough time getting my head wrapped around the idea. I went to work othe next day and let my staff know and informed them that I would be taking some time off. I went home and spent the next 3 days in my living room staring at nothing with my mouth open. Once I came to terms with my situation I was able to get back to life as I knew it. Back to work and starting a new regimen of appointments with the transplant team in Salt Lake City, Utah. The fist couple weeks we were on pins and needles and every time my cell rang, we thought it was "the call". To make it a bit more interesting, I had a job that was 24 hour on-call and my cell was also my work phone. After a little while it became less likely that it was "the call" and things settled back to relative normalcy.
I was classified a status 2. This means that my condition was not an emergent situation and I was in "good health" for the relative group I had just joined. I was starting a relationship with the transplant team who would be part of my life for the next x amount of time. The average waiting period for a status 2 patient is 1 yr so the call could come today, tomorrow or whenever. There is no certainty, only hunches and past data to base decisions on, and of course, my health. Any drastic change would change my status.
More to this story coming soon...but now is time for sleep.
JJ