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CMMods.com, two lungs and a new look on life (May 21 Update)


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COG, yea your e-mail got spit back to me. I wanted to let you and your wife know there IS "light at the end of the tunnel", and when I was almost dead I wish someone who'd been through this experience had told me that (maybe print this post out for her)...

I had a full respiratory collapse in 1999 at the age of 30 after a seevre bout of pancreatitus, and was on a vent and in a coma for a month. My lungs were in sch bad shape they bled profusley all the time and were swollen and stuck right through my rib cage. Though I didn't have a transplant I had to go through the difficult and painful rehab your wife is (since I'd been in a bed for 2 straight months total). I never thought I'd be off oxygen or be able to walk more than a hundred feet again, but after 6 months I was able to do both. I mention this, because I know how slow the recovery is, and each day seems insurmountable, and the ups and downs, and relapses make you feel hopeless sometimes. BUT... I did it, and if your wife can walk 300 feet now, that is fantastic. Please tell her that means she is well on her way to being able to ride a bike in the park. And that's no bull. I could not pee for a month without fear of heart failure because it was so much "work" and would drain all my O2...

The other thing I personally wish I'd known when being so sick was... the horrofic dreams, nightmares, and sickening fear I had was much more from the pain medicine and drugs, than from my mind. I thought I was having psychological problems due to being afraid of dying... and since you kind of internalize a lot, never thought to ask... but a lot of those meds have some severe psychotropic effects that are not too pleasant. Knowing its a side effect makes life a little easier...

By the way, I used to see Dr. Stern at the Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Rainbow Babies - but my family nor I could handle long distance hospital stays so I haven't seen him in a long time. But when I need to go on the transplant list, I'll have them at the top of my list.

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I was just in the hospital for 2 weeks and got out last week. One thing that made me feel a lot better was knowing people (outside of my family) from forums I post on were thinking and praying for me. It's amazing how good it feels to know that people you've never met care for you.

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As most of you know by now, we're back home and CMMods is back up!

It's been a VERY long 2 months, but things could not have worked out better. My wife will be starting her local rehab on Monday and she's really looking forward to it. I'll probably start back to work after Memorial weekend... I got to earn some money for the mortgage. ;)

A big thank you to everyone for your support. I cannot say enough good things about the CM community. You guys are the best!!!

COG

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