Anna Update

Anna Update

December 2, 2018:  I mentioned last winter that my daughter, Anna has chronic rejection of her transplanted lungs. It’s a form of rejection that cannot be “cured” it can only be stalled. The stalling effect actually worked and kept her lung capacity at around 50% for several months. In October she was at about 48%. Unfortunately, a week before Thanksgiving, Anna saw a dramatic drop in her lung function on her home monitor which resulted in her needing to go to Duke University Hospital last week. She had dropped to around 40% lung capacity. Her transplant team determined the best option was for her to undergo another round of rATG. That’s the infused treatment she received last December when she was diagnosed with chronic rejection. She’ll be in the hospital for a few more days to receive the full five days of treatment. Hopefully this will stall the rejection again, like it did last year. For now she’s in good spirits and her dad is with her helping her pass the time. 🙂

Another Anna Update

Anna was at Duke University Clinic last week for a check up.  She had a bronchoscopy (bronch) and learned she does not have rejection!!!  No rejection means longer spans between bronchs and are a sign that her body is, at least for now, accepting her gently used lungs.  She has an infection and started a round of antibiotics that should take care of it.  It’s not debilitating and she continues to go to classes and work on making friends.  She says Pepper has more friends than she does.  This is not hard to believe because cute fur balls who love people generally attract a lot of attention! 🙂
Today is a big day for Anna.  It is her Golden Birthday!!!  In case you don’t know the magic of the Golden Birthday, it’s the day you turn the age of your birthdate.  Today is September 24th and Anna is 24!!!  I seriously can’t believe I am the mother of a 24 year old.  I’m turning 50 at the end of this year so I guess it makes sense, but I still have a hard time believing how quickly my first-born has reached this Golden Birthday!  We are all certainly thankful she has!  I don’t really care that I have to get older in order for my children to age.  There’s something about the years marching on that brings me a sense of “this is how life should be” and I like it.  I could do without the slowing metabolism, disintegrating muscle tone and loose skin but if that’s part of the price I must pay to watch my children flying out of the nest and on into their lives, then so be it.  I’ll try to keep my vain complaints to a minimum 🙂
If you want to wish Anna a Happy Birthday you may do so at her blog or on her Facebook page.
Happy Thursday!
Karen