Imagine this for a moment:
It's the beginning of a new year. You're determined to stick to a budget this year, and are having fun figuring out ways to cut back, venturing to new grocery stores to save a few bucks, and meal planning like crazy. You got sick with a cold around Christmas, so to be on the safe side you're doing a course of IVs at home to make sure things don't get crazy with your lungs, and it seems to be working because you feel almost like your old self again. You're also determined this is the year you get to the bottom of why you can't get pregnant after 2 1/2 years of trying, so you go to see your lady doctor, who figures out what's probably causing the problem and implements a plan of action. You're excited to see what 2018 has in store with its bright new beginnings.
And then you catch the flu. Despite all the precautions you've taken to avoid it, it finds you. And it's every bit as terrible as you feared it would be. And it burns in your lungs like nothing you've ever felt before. But gradually it feels a little better, and you think maybe those antibiotics you've been on have protected your lungs from any real damage.
And then you go to your CF appointment a week later because your lungs are starting to feel crazy gunky again and you realize you probably did NOT escape some nasty lingering effects from that flu.
And then you find out your lung function has fallen to 28% on top of feeling terrible, so it's time for a hospital admission/tune up.
And then you start your normal cocktail of IV antibiotics, but still keep feeling sicker and sicker each day. Getting to the bathroom is a huge feat, and taking a shower sitting on the shower chair feels like the hardest thing you've ever done in your life.
And then you realize it's February 6th and you've missed your friend's birthday on the 4th without even sending a Happy Birthday text, and half jokingly wonder to yourself if you can blame it on the nurses because no one ever changes the date on the white board in your room.
And then you're waking up to the sound of your husband's voice saying "Sweetie, squeeze my hand if you can hear me. Can you hear me? You've been very very sick for a long time now. You've been on something called ECMO that's been keeping you alive. You had a lung transplant two days ago. It's March 4th now. They're about to put you back to sleep for a few minutes to take you off the ECMO machine, and when they wake you back up we need to see if you're able to move your right leg, ok? It's important that you try to move your leg when you wake back up, ok? Squeeze my hand again if you understand me."
Wait. What?!?
To be continued...
