Buds at CFL

Chad and I. (Chad is a fellow Cystic who got his lungs in October)



All the pre-transplant cystics minus our friend Melanie. (We are still waiting that special phone call) :)



This is my bud Tom, he got his lungs right after Thanksgiving and is doing wonderful!!

Center For Living

So here is some of the staff that take care of me every week day as I work out. They are WONDERFUL and I love them all! I thank God everyday for them. They monitor stats, switch oxygen tanks, instruct on weight machines, bikes and the infamous 30 minute walk that NO ONE likes...but we love the staff! I wouldn't be in the shape I am today without them!


Sarah (PT)



Sheila (RT)



Rebekah (PT)




Rebecca (PT)

Dave (PT)

Finally, the finishing touches!

So, as promised here is Daisy's stocking and the end product, it's nothing great, but it did pass the time.

Our Tree and stockings...





Here is Daisy Dog's stocking...I guess she's been good...LOL

Now its Christmas

Homade Christmas stocking



Our lovely Christmas Tree!


Ben and I put up our tree over the weekend. Its not bad for a fake tree I guess. His Mom sent up 3 big boxes of ornaments and my aunt had given us a bag of ornaments, so between the two of those we have a nicely decorated tree. I also got a stocking made by his Mom and his aunt, since I am now an official Baumann, its really nice, check out the pics of the tree and stocking!


I bought a stocking and some puffy paints from the Dollar Tree to decorate for Daisy, once I'm finsihed I'll post a picture of the finished product!

Switching of the Guard

This past weekend my caregivers switched. Dad went back home and Mom came to take his place. She got here Monday afternoon.

We hit the ground running though. Early Tuesday morning, 3am I began coughing bright red blood up again. It was alot and it didn't slow down as fast as it usually does so I had Mom call 911 and I was taken to Duke via ambulance. Better to be safe than sorry I guess. I ended up staying the night and was sent home on 4 days worth of steroids to hopefully calm things down in my lil lungs.

I'm hoping and praying real hard that these steroids will be enough to last me and control these bleeds through Christmas so I can be home and spend time with all my family who is coming in ThursdayDecember 23rd and staying through December 26th.

As always I appreciate all the prayers from everyone. Hopefully soon I'll get that call for brand new organs and begin my recovery!

Little behind...

To catch you up: Well, Wednesday December 8th Dad took me to the ER at 11pm because I started coughing up blood and it was a little over 3 TBSP which is the rule the Doc gave me. So I was kept. Thursday I had my very first ever Bronch--not a fun experience. Due to my lung function being so low I could not be out under, I was only given spray lidocaisne to "numb" my gag reflex and a VERY small amount of versed to take the edge off. Well, lets just say I have a very strong gag reflex!! :) During the bronch a camera is inserted into the mouth and down the trachea into the lungs to look at the airways. The doctor squirted some saline into my lungs and then sucked it back up so he could have sample to look at to see what was down there. He didn't find anything out odf the ordinary or of concern, so that is a good thing. Some blood was brought up with the saline, but he was not worried. Afterwords he said I apparently did not like the procedure very well, he described it as more like assault and battery...lol. After the bronch I felt awful, was freezing cold, no fever thankfully though, but just felt like I'd been hit by a truck. Docs said this was normal they just needed to keep an eye out for any fevers because that was indication that the bronch stirred up some bacteria and I may have to start on some IV antibiotics. Hopefully no more bronchs until post transplant, they are much more bearable post transplant. So that was Wednedsay.
Thursday I was embolized again for the third time. That went fine, same old same old, doped up and mostly pretty comfortable. The only thing with this procedure is because they go in and cut off blood flow to large pulmonary vessels the lungs compensate by making new smaller vessels and apparently my lungs have made quite a few of them, so many that it is impossible to get them all, so the docs think that is the reason I continue to bleed despite the many embolizations.
I was discharged Satureday December 11 because I had not coughed up any more bright red blood. So Ben came and picked me up and brought me home. Well as soon as I walked in the front door of our apartment I began coughing and blood came up, only about 2 TBSP this time so I decided to stay home and if it happened again that night I'd head back to the ER.

I am feeling well and can't wait to see my family for Christmas!! Everyone is coming! My two sisters and their families, Ben, my brother Kevin, my Grandma! (who I haven't seen since July!!) and my Daddy!

Please keep up the prayers, I'm praying hard for Christmas organs or New Years organs! And please don't forget the donors family as aI've said before, thier loss is my gift.
Love you all!

Frequent Flyer Miles Pay Off!!

So my last hospitalization brought with it extra perks! As you know from my last post, I went into the hospital again due to some more bleeding from my lungs. While I was in, I was emobolized again, but still my lungs continued to bleed despite the treatment. So the "Head Honcho" got involved and appealed my case to the National Transplant Board. This meant he would present my case again to the board and they would vote on me and my case. My previous LAS (Lung Allocation Score) was 37, I am now 45. The scale goes to 100.

I also had clinic this morning and the Transplant Cordinator informed me that I was almost called in this past weekend for organs, but for some reason, only God knows, I was not.

So keep the prayers coming...God is hearing them, its just not the right time yet. As my Grandma said she prays: "Lord you gave the greatest gift during this season your Son, but you know the second greatest gift you could give is new organs to Kerry, but we will wait for your timing." It made me laugh so hard when she told me what she prays...I love her very much and she has a "direct connection" ;)

My friend Tom

Hey everyone, I wanted to let you guys know that my good buddy Tom from rehab got his call and his lung Friday December 3rd! I was so happy for him, he and I are good buddies. We would tease each other about being old because I am a young person hanging out with him and the other old folks. We also teased each other about college football teams. He is from Alabama, so he is an Alabama fan (NOT AUBURN!) and I am by marriage, an LSU fan. I wore my LSU hat on purpose just to get his goat. It was great. If you would please keep him in your prayers, last I heard he was doing great. I wish I had a picture to share with you, but when he gets back, hopefully I will still be in rehab and we can grab a picture together.

Got the Boot...

To my surprise I was discharged early!! I won't complain. I hadn't coughed up any more blood so they said I could go if I wanted! So of course I took them up on their offer! Dad and I were home in time to watch Jeopardy :). Its an answer to prayer that the embolization went well!

I am however very sore from the procedure, but I hope this will subside soon, docs gave me some oxycodone, but it hasn't done much.

On another note, my friend Pam, who got her lungs in July finally gets to go home. She's been through alot so she's so excited to finally get to go home! I'm very sad to see her go, but happy at the same time because I know how bad she wanted to go home to Mississippi. So please pray for her and her hubby to have safe travel and to keep her healthy!

Still waitin for that phone call from the organ store ;)

ps: And prayers for the donors family...their loss will be my gift.