Medical update:
Talked to the transplant coordinator and my next step is the
re-evaluation for a heart transplant.
This will include a multitude of tests and interviews that will
include: a CT scan, vascular study, lots of lab work,
meeting with a psychologist, dietician, and various other “professionals”. Sounds exhausting…hopefully it’s not all
scheduled in 1 day!
In the meantime I’ve compiled a
list of things I’ve had the opportunity to do because of this donated heart over
the last 25 years:
1)
Stay alive
2)
Meet my little brother
3)
Graduate high school
4)
Celebrate more birthdays
5)
Work full-time (not sure this a benefit-but hey
it is something “normal” people do)
6)
Meet my first nephew
7)
Fall in love
8)
Get my heart broken (and not have it be because
of a physical cause)
9)
Go to college and meet new friends J
10)
Parasail
11)
Abalone Dive (well-snorkel really-I never really
dove down for them-but I did eat them J
)
12)
Fall in love again, this time forever
13)
Travel to Canada
14)
Experience the Rubicon Trail
15)
Get Married and gain two more brothers & an
additional set of parents J
16)
Graduate College with a Bachelor’s Degree in
Criminal Justice, minor in Business Accounting
17)
Travel to Puerta Vallarta, Oahu & Cabo San
Lucas compliments of Scott’s employer
18)
Travel to Colorado Springs, different parts of
Florida, Minneapolis, & Chicago compliments
of my sister and where she’s lived during her life
19)
See my sister get married
20)
Have a baby girl and fall in love again in a new
way
21)
Gain some amazing “mom” friends
22)
Be there for the birth of my first niece
23)
Reconnect with a long-lost friend and find out
our daughters are 2 months apart
24)
See Paris, France with my sister
25)
Have a baby boy and honor my donor with shared
middle name
26)
Get to experience the heartache of having a
child with a heart defect and needing surgery (Could have passed on that one)
27)
Rush to see birth of niece #2 (missed it while
on plane-but still cool to surprise my sister)
28)
Travel all over California with Scott’s new self-employment
status
29)
Travel to the East Coast
30)
Celebrate 10 years of marriage & 20 years
with my donated heart
31)
Come to know Jesus as my Savior
32)
See New York City with my sister
33)
Meet another niece in Maryland (And get to
travel to Maryland compliments of my brother-in-law)
34)
Meet Nephew #2 in Chicago on the way home from
Maryland
35)
Meet another niece in Reno
36)
Experience the love and devotion of friends and
family during Nolan’s second open-heart surgery
37)
See Madonna
in Concert
38)
Turn 40 years old & celebrate with friends
and family
39)
Feel the outpouring of love from family and
friends after my stroke
40)
See Josh Groban in concert
41)
Travel across the United States with my family
and add to the states I’ve visited in route to Maryland, and visit with dear
friends along the way
42)
See my little brother get married
43)
Countless hours spent with good friends, and
family
I know there is so much more I can add to this list. There is so much more I hope to add to this
list, but perhaps those additions are meant for the next heart. Either way-this one has had a good life, a
great life, the best life one could hope for.
On that note, I leave you with these song lyrics that have been echoing
in my heart yesterday and today after reading the outpouring of prayers,
messages, notes etc. I love you all.
Glow in the Dark by Jason
Gray
Sometimes the world feels like
a mess
Full of drama, full of stress
And life puts a fist right in your ribs
You can hide if you choose to
And no one would even blame you
Or you can let them see how you deal with it
That even in the darkest place
His love can make you radiate
Doesn't matter how deep, how dark the night is
Keep hoping, keep on shining
And they'll see His light burning in your heart
And if the road gets rough, just keep your head up
Let the world see what you're made of
That His love's alive in your deepest parts
Like a flame, like a burning star you can shine right where you are
He made you to glow in the dark
Don't be ashamed of your past
If you're shattered like a piece of glass
The more broke you are the more the light gets through
Show your wounds and your flaws
Show them why you still need the cross
Let them see the work He's doing in you
That even in the darkest place
His love can make you radiate
Doesn't matter how deep, how dark the night is
Keep hoping, keep on shining
And they'll see His light burning in your heart
And if the road gets rough, just keep your head up
Let the world see what you're made of
That His love's alive in your deepest parts
Like a flame, like a burning star you can shine right where you are
He made you to glow in the dark
Full of drama, full of stress
And life puts a fist right in your ribs
You can hide if you choose to
And no one would even blame you
Or you can let them see how you deal with it
That even in the darkest place
His love can make you radiate
Doesn't matter how deep, how dark the night is
Keep hoping, keep on shining
And they'll see His light burning in your heart
And if the road gets rough, just keep your head up
Let the world see what you're made of
That His love's alive in your deepest parts
Like a flame, like a burning star you can shine right where you are
He made you to glow in the dark
Don't be ashamed of your past
If you're shattered like a piece of glass
The more broke you are the more the light gets through
Show your wounds and your flaws
Show them why you still need the cross
Let them see the work He's doing in you
That even in the darkest place
His love can make you radiate
Doesn't matter how deep, how dark the night is
Keep hoping, keep on shining
And they'll see His light burning in your heart
And if the road gets rough, just keep your head up
Let the world see what you're made of
That His love's alive in your deepest parts
Like a flame, like a burning star you can shine right where you are
He made you to glow in the dark
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