"Phenomenal!"

Today marks the last day of my weekly post-transplant appointments! For the next month or two I will go down every two weeks…yay! I guess that means I’m getting better : ) We found out that I can have blood work done locally and my doctors will still get my numbers fairly quickly, so that cuts down of driving too! I will, however, be starting pulmonary rehab in Frederick (they don’t have a program in Hagerstown) and that will be 3 days a week…woo hoo for driving…just kidding. Thankfully, Mom has been so willing and patient and flexible that she has taken me to all my appointments and will take me to rehab. She is just great!

Any ways, we went back down to Hopkins today. Had blood work, x-ray, PFT’s, then saw Dr. Orens and my coordinator Terri. The blood work showed that my kidney function is back up again…in a bad way. So, we are shuffling around some medicines and waiting for my anti-rejection drug number to come back, as that is probably the problem. My x-ray looked really good! I am so thankful that the fluid seems to be coming down out of the right side and I don’t have to have it drained!!! I was really not looking forward to that. Then I did my PFT’s…and let me tell you, I’ve never had so much fun doing a lung function test!!! My friend Paula (who always does my tests) made sure that she printed out 3 copies of the test results…1 for Dr. Orens, 1 for Mom’s refrigerator, and 1 for our refrigerator…because they were SO AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! I beat my own personal record!!!!!!!!!! My FEV1 was 2.54 and that means 84%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dr. Orens said that my home PFT’s and my in-clinic PFT’s were, and I quote, “Phenomenal!” I never even dreamed that a doctor would tell me that my lungs were in awesome shape and that my numbers were phenomenal. God, I love these lungs. I love them and I thank you for them. They are beautiful.

My lungs may be doing great, but there are still a few things that just are a little out of control. My blood sugar, for example, is just unexplainable. I treat each meal and snack with insulin, and do a long-lasting insulin shot everyday, and still they don’t make any sense. Dr. Orens said I have a rare condition called GOK. We asked him what that was. He said that GOK means “God Only Knows!” We all laughed : ) If there is anyone who knows, I’m glad it is Him! There have been so many times when doctors have told me that they have no idea what is going on with my body. I’ve had so many tests to try to figure things out. But in the end, we know that God knows. And it is my God, who created this amazing world, who holds everything together, who created my body, and who created my old and my new lungs, it is Him who knows what is going on. And I trust Him. God, I love you…a lot.

In other good news, I can now chase Jonathan. Yes, it is true! He may still be stronger than me and bigger than me, but when he made some dumb joke tonight I chased him down the hall and caught him!!! That is right, Mr. Slick, you can’t get away any more : )

- Rachel