after transplant

summer732

New member
15 years! You are an inspiration to us all.

Now going back to something that was said. No a transplant does not cure CF, but believe me, when your body is getting 100% Oxygen and you aren't fighting off constant infections, things just sort of fall into place.

I had my feeding tube inserted when I was 14 years old. I used that thing EVERY night, as many cans as I could squeeze in. Eventually, the feeding tube was simply there to sustain my life and maintain my weight. I was only 76 pounds at the time of transplant. When I woke up I was eating massive amounts of food (hospital food at that), when I left my appetite continued, and guess what, the weight followed as well.

I never used my feeding tube again after I had my transplant and about 3 weeks later, they pulled that sucker out! So yeah, my pancrease is still affected seeing as I have to still take enzymes and all, but I am digesting my food and my body is absorbing the calories I eat because I'm not fighting off infections. But I am currently a healthy 96.5 pounds (I'm only 4'11", my highest weight post transplant was 103).

I will say, when I get a cold, I still drop weight pretty quickly. The great thing is though, if you put your mind to it and eat, you can put it right back on. And yeah my sinuses are still affected, but I see an AMAZING sinus guy every two months, and I am crazy with the saline sprays. Helps to keep everything clear and clean!


This is my opinion: when it comes to transplant a positive attitude goes a long way. You can sit and read about everything that can go wrong, or all of the things you need to avoid...which is great and everyone going into a transplant should know that information. I think transplant is something that you really have to want. You have to want a better life, want to succeed and have an unbelievable will to live to fight through the tough times. My transplant has not come along without it's complications and I have a hard time when I talk to a friend who did not have such a great run with transplant (not a CFer). But I stay positive and forge ahead, because my life today, my ability to breathe, to work, to play, to laugh, to love has been 100 trillion times better than my best day with CF.

Just an FYI in the last two years some of my complications: acute rejection (two weeks post, handled with a high dose of steroids, hasn't been back since); airway narrowing (2 months post; bronchoscopy; ballooned open); bronchitis (4 months post transplant; my doctor believes I stressed myself out because I was moving back home from New Orleans; bronch; course of IVs); Nasal Polyps (a year post transplant; out of control!, surgery); Pneumonia (1 1/2 years post transplant developed from the Para influenza virus; significant drop in PFTS; hospital stay; two weeks IV; three week leave of absence from job); Sinus polyps again! (2 years post transplant; office procedure to pull them out); PFTs down from effects of para influenza virus (bump and taper on prednisone); just as I was getting better...I caught RSV (2 years 2 months post; drop in pfts; bronch; antibiotics); This brings me to now (2 years 4 months post)...just went back to the doctor, pfts up significantly, gained weight, cat scan shows improvement...however, there is a new "area of pneumonia" that was not on a previous cat scan...it is contained so I am on Levaquin and I have to go back in a month for repeat PFTs and Cat Scan. If all is well then wooohoo, if not then bronch me.

So that has been the last two years of my life. I don't know if that helps at all just to see what type of complications can come up. If I learned anything in the last two years it is HANDWASHING; HANDWASHING; HANDWASHING!

So for all of you out there considering transplant, on the waiting list, or just transplanted STAY POSITIVE and keep pushing!
 

summer732

New member
15 years! You are an inspiration to us all.

Now going back to something that was said. No a transplant does not cure CF, but believe me, when your body is getting 100% Oxygen and you aren't fighting off constant infections, things just sort of fall into place.

I had my feeding tube inserted when I was 14 years old. I used that thing EVERY night, as many cans as I could squeeze in. Eventually, the feeding tube was simply there to sustain my life and maintain my weight. I was only 76 pounds at the time of transplant. When I woke up I was eating massive amounts of food (hospital food at that), when I left my appetite continued, and guess what, the weight followed as well.

I never used my feeding tube again after I had my transplant and about 3 weeks later, they pulled that sucker out! So yeah, my pancrease is still affected seeing as I have to still take enzymes and all, but I am digesting my food and my body is absorbing the calories I eat because I'm not fighting off infections. But I am currently a healthy 96.5 pounds (I'm only 4'11", my highest weight post transplant was 103).

I will say, when I get a cold, I still drop weight pretty quickly. The great thing is though, if you put your mind to it and eat, you can put it right back on. And yeah my sinuses are still affected, but I see an AMAZING sinus guy every two months, and I am crazy with the saline sprays. Helps to keep everything clear and clean!


This is my opinion: when it comes to transplant a positive attitude goes a long way. You can sit and read about everything that can go wrong, or all of the things you need to avoid...which is great and everyone going into a transplant should know that information. I think transplant is something that you really have to want. You have to want a better life, want to succeed and have an unbelievable will to live to fight through the tough times. My transplant has not come along without it's complications and I have a hard time when I talk to a friend who did not have such a great run with transplant (not a CFer). But I stay positive and forge ahead, because my life today, my ability to breathe, to work, to play, to laugh, to love has been 100 trillion times better than my best day with CF.

Just an FYI in the last two years some of my complications: acute rejection (two weeks post, handled with a high dose of steroids, hasn't been back since); airway narrowing (2 months post; bronchoscopy; ballooned open); bronchitis (4 months post transplant; my doctor believes I stressed myself out because I was moving back home from New Orleans; bronch; course of IVs); Nasal Polyps (a year post transplant; out of control!, surgery); Pneumonia (1 1/2 years post transplant developed from the Para influenza virus; significant drop in PFTS; hospital stay; two weeks IV; three week leave of absence from job); Sinus polyps again! (2 years post transplant; office procedure to pull them out); PFTs down from effects of para influenza virus (bump and taper on prednisone); just as I was getting better...I caught RSV (2 years 2 months post; drop in pfts; bronch; antibiotics); This brings me to now (2 years 4 months post)...just went back to the doctor, pfts up significantly, gained weight, cat scan shows improvement...however, there is a new "area of pneumonia" that was not on a previous cat scan...it is contained so I am on Levaquin and I have to go back in a month for repeat PFTs and Cat Scan. If all is well then wooohoo, if not then bronch me.

So that has been the last two years of my life. I don't know if that helps at all just to see what type of complications can come up. If I learned anything in the last two years it is HANDWASHING; HANDWASHING; HANDWASHING!

So for all of you out there considering transplant, on the waiting list, or just transplanted STAY POSITIVE and keep pushing!
 

summer732

New member
Thanks Risa!

And you have always been an inspiration to me as well! so you keep going too! And I always enjoy your posts!
 

summer732

New member
Thanks Risa!

And you have always been an inspiration to me as well! so you keep going too! And I always enjoy your posts!
 

summer732

New member
Thanks Risa!

And you have always been an inspiration to me as well! so you keep going too! And I always enjoy your posts!
 

summer732

New member
"so you may have made one part of you a bit better, but there are other parts that still do not work correctly."

Sorry Nickster, I don't know why that comment is resonating with me.

My lungs aren't just a "bit better" they are unbelievably better. They are not even in the same league as my old lungs. In fact, they aren't even playing the same sport as my old lungs.

and the other parts that don't work correctly, no big deal, easy to fix...

sorry, had to get that out. I'm done now.
 

summer732

New member
"so you may have made one part of you a bit better, but there are other parts that still do not work correctly."

Sorry Nickster, I don't know why that comment is resonating with me.

My lungs aren't just a "bit better" they are unbelievably better. They are not even in the same league as my old lungs. In fact, they aren't even playing the same sport as my old lungs.

and the other parts that don't work correctly, no big deal, easy to fix...

sorry, had to get that out. I'm done now.
 

summer732

New member
"so you may have made one part of you a bit better, but there are other parts that still do not work correctly."

Sorry Nickster, I don't know why that comment is resonating with me.

My lungs aren't just a "bit better" they are unbelievably better. They are not even in the same league as my old lungs. In fact, they aren't even playing the same sport as my old lungs.

and the other parts that don't work correctly, no big deal, easy to fix...

sorry, had to get that out. I'm done now.
 
C

Cutecurlz

Guest
Borrowed time? What the heck! My brother is 30 yrs old and had a double lung transplant exactly one week b4 Christmas 06. He had his surgery on December 18/06, was doing great within 3 days. Had ALL his tubes and stuff out by that weekend. A few days later he had a little patch of pnemonia, gave him lots of antibiotics and within 2 days he was fine. He was s ent home the week of New Years Day 2007. 2 days after that he went out and bought himself a mountain bike and rides where ever he needs to go. Why? He says because he can BREATH!! His CF docs say that as long as he looks after himself and does what he is told he may out live me. I don't think so. Ha ha ha (We both have CF, I have a much much much much milder case then he does).
I guess what your doctor meant by borrowed time is......well I dunno. According to my brother there was a young girl who had the same surgery as he did but she had 3 heart attacks while on the operating table and they brought her back each time. She's not doing that well yet. And another young girl, her body keeps rejecting her new lungs.
If my brother didn't have the surgery when he did the doctors said that he would only hace less than 2 yrs to live.
Does ur doctor plan on giving you bad lungs?
How sick are you? I mean are there any other health issues/concerns that your docotr has that by giving you a lung transplant will give a few more years? If you are that unsure I would ask your doctor more questions and don't give up til you get the answers that feel ok with, if your still not sure get a second opinion.
I hope I've helped you......
Good Luck!
 
C

Cutecurlz

Guest
Borrowed time? What the heck! My brother is 30 yrs old and had a double lung transplant exactly one week b4 Christmas 06. He had his surgery on December 18/06, was doing great within 3 days. Had ALL his tubes and stuff out by that weekend. A few days later he had a little patch of pnemonia, gave him lots of antibiotics and within 2 days he was fine. He was s ent home the week of New Years Day 2007. 2 days after that he went out and bought himself a mountain bike and rides where ever he needs to go. Why? He says because he can BREATH!! His CF docs say that as long as he looks after himself and does what he is told he may out live me. I don't think so. Ha ha ha (We both have CF, I have a much much much much milder case then he does).
I guess what your doctor meant by borrowed time is......well I dunno. According to my brother there was a young girl who had the same surgery as he did but she had 3 heart attacks while on the operating table and they brought her back each time. She's not doing that well yet. And another young girl, her body keeps rejecting her new lungs.
If my brother didn't have the surgery when he did the doctors said that he would only hace less than 2 yrs to live.
Does ur doctor plan on giving you bad lungs?
How sick are you? I mean are there any other health issues/concerns that your docotr has that by giving you a lung transplant will give a few more years? If you are that unsure I would ask your doctor more questions and don't give up til you get the answers that feel ok with, if your still not sure get a second opinion.
I hope I've helped you......
Good Luck!
 
C

Cutecurlz

Guest
Borrowed time? What the heck! My brother is 30 yrs old and had a double lung transplant exactly one week b4 Christmas 06. He had his surgery on December 18/06, was doing great within 3 days. Had ALL his tubes and stuff out by that weekend. A few days later he had a little patch of pnemonia, gave him lots of antibiotics and within 2 days he was fine. He was s ent home the week of New Years Day 2007. 2 days after that he went out and bought himself a mountain bike and rides where ever he needs to go. Why? He says because he can BREATH!! His CF docs say that as long as he looks after himself and does what he is told he may out live me. I don't think so. Ha ha ha (We both have CF, I have a much much much much milder case then he does).
I guess what your doctor meant by borrowed time is......well I dunno. According to my brother there was a young girl who had the same surgery as he did but she had 3 heart attacks while on the operating table and they brought her back each time. She's not doing that well yet. And another young girl, her body keeps rejecting her new lungs.
If my brother didn't have the surgery when he did the doctors said that he would only hace less than 2 yrs to live.
Does ur doctor plan on giving you bad lungs?
How sick are you? I mean are there any other health issues/concerns that your docotr has that by giving you a lung transplant will give a few more years? If you are that unsure I would ask your doctor more questions and don't give up til you get the answers that feel ok with, if your still not sure get a second opinion.
I hope I've helped you......
Good Luck!
 
C

Cutecurlz

Guest
I also 4got 2 mention that yes he is on a regime of meds now and his immune system is sucky now too. But he can breath now and is enjoying life better. The lungs that he got were a great match for him.....He lives in British Columbia, Canada, CF Lung transplants are awsome out there and so is the doc.
 
C

Cutecurlz

Guest
I also 4got 2 mention that yes he is on a regime of meds now and his immune system is sucky now too. But he can breath now and is enjoying life better. The lungs that he got were a great match for him.....He lives in British Columbia, Canada, CF Lung transplants are awsome out there and so is the doc.
 
C

Cutecurlz

Guest
I also 4got 2 mention that yes he is on a regime of meds now and his immune system is sucky now too. But he can breath now and is enjoying life better. The lungs that he got were a great match for him.....He lives in British Columbia, Canada, CF Lung transplants are awsome out there and so is the doc.
 

beautifulsoul

Super Moderator
Thank you for sharing your experiences Risa and Margaret. Keep up the positive attitude!

I'm still waiting for my transplant call. Staying positve after 6 false calls!
 

beautifulsoul

Super Moderator
Thank you for sharing your experiences Risa and Margaret. Keep up the positive attitude!

I'm still waiting for my transplant call. Staying positve after 6 false calls!
 

beautifulsoul

Super Moderator
Thank you for sharing your experiences Risa and Margaret. Keep up the positive attitude!

I'm still waiting for my transplant call. Staying positve after 6 false calls!
 

Emily65Roses

New member
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote><i>Originally posted by: <b>Cutecurlz</b></i>
I guess what your doctor meant by borrowed time is......well I dunno. According to my brother there was a young girl who had the same surgery as he did but she had 3 heart attacks while on the operating table and they brought her back each time. She's not doing that well yet. And another young girl, her body keeps rejecting her new lungs.

If my brother didn't have the surgery when he did the doctors said that he would only hace less than 2 yrs to live.

Does ur doctor plan on giving you bad lungs?</end quote></div>

Even if a doctor doesn't PLAN on giving you bad lungs, tx doesn't always work. Kudos for those of you who've had a tx and it worked wonders and you're still truckin', but it's not a magic fix-all. There's incidences of rejection, infection, etc. EVEN if you're 100% compliant, even if you think you can handle it, sometimes your body and your new lungs have something else in mind.

I'm not saying this to make anybody second-think a tx. If you want one, get one. Despite my having said all that, I will probably try for a tx one day. But you should be aware ahead of time, that it's not guaranteed that things will go perfectly. Very often, they don't. And it has nothing to do with a "positive attitude" or whether or not you're compliant (though compliancy helps, it doesn't guarantee you success post-tx), or whatever. Bad sh*t happens to good people all the time. It's not like smiling and thinking positively just makes all the bad sh* t go "Oh okay, this one's smiling, pass her over, let's go to the one frowning and make her reject instead." Nope, not how it works.

I'm sorry but I'm really tired of all the thinking like a positive attitude fixes all. I've known PLENTY of people who were incredibly positive, who fought really hard, and they still got screwed.

To the original poster, good luck with it. There's no expiration date. It's not like a carton of milk where the date shows up and you just chuck it. But new lungs, just like your old ones, will not last forever. The chances of new lungs giving you a "normal" lifespan are not good. But they will likely add a lot of time that you wouldn't otherwise have. It's a very personal decision that you need to think about carefully and make for yourself. Don't let anyone else make it for you. It's basically trading one disease for another. You are likely to live longer than you would without new lungs (and of course, this isn't guaranteed), but you'll have plenty of hardships to deal with in conjunction with the new lungs. <b>As long as you're making the decision yourself, FOR yourself, whichever way you go is the right one. If you still want a tx, then get one, do your best, and hope that it works. If you decide you don't, that's fine too. <i>(People don't like to hear that, but tx is a very personal decision and there's nothing wrong with turning it down if you've looked at it carefully and decided it's not right for you).</i> Just do whatever it is you know is RIGHT for YOU.</b>
 

Emily65Roses

New member
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote><i>Originally posted by: <b>Cutecurlz</b></i>
I guess what your doctor meant by borrowed time is......well I dunno. According to my brother there was a young girl who had the same surgery as he did but she had 3 heart attacks while on the operating table and they brought her back each time. She's not doing that well yet. And another young girl, her body keeps rejecting her new lungs.

If my brother didn't have the surgery when he did the doctors said that he would only hace less than 2 yrs to live.

Does ur doctor plan on giving you bad lungs?</end quote></div>

Even if a doctor doesn't PLAN on giving you bad lungs, tx doesn't always work. Kudos for those of you who've had a tx and it worked wonders and you're still truckin', but it's not a magic fix-all. There's incidences of rejection, infection, etc. EVEN if you're 100% compliant, even if you think you can handle it, sometimes your body and your new lungs have something else in mind.

I'm not saying this to make anybody second-think a tx. If you want one, get one. Despite my having said all that, I will probably try for a tx one day. But you should be aware ahead of time, that it's not guaranteed that things will go perfectly. Very often, they don't. And it has nothing to do with a "positive attitude" or whether or not you're compliant (though compliancy helps, it doesn't guarantee you success post-tx), or whatever. Bad sh*t happens to good people all the time. It's not like smiling and thinking positively just makes all the bad sh* t go "Oh okay, this one's smiling, pass her over, let's go to the one frowning and make her reject instead." Nope, not how it works.

I'm sorry but I'm really tired of all the thinking like a positive attitude fixes all. I've known PLENTY of people who were incredibly positive, who fought really hard, and they still got screwed.

To the original poster, good luck with it. There's no expiration date. It's not like a carton of milk where the date shows up and you just chuck it. But new lungs, just like your old ones, will not last forever. The chances of new lungs giving you a "normal" lifespan are not good. But they will likely add a lot of time that you wouldn't otherwise have. It's a very personal decision that you need to think about carefully and make for yourself. Don't let anyone else make it for you. It's basically trading one disease for another. You are likely to live longer than you would without new lungs (and of course, this isn't guaranteed), but you'll have plenty of hardships to deal with in conjunction with the new lungs. <b>As long as you're making the decision yourself, FOR yourself, whichever way you go is the right one. If you still want a tx, then get one, do your best, and hope that it works. If you decide you don't, that's fine too. <i>(People don't like to hear that, but tx is a very personal decision and there's nothing wrong with turning it down if you've looked at it carefully and decided it's not right for you).</i> Just do whatever it is you know is RIGHT for YOU.</b>
 

Emily65Roses

New member
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote><i>Originally posted by: <b>Cutecurlz</b></i>
I guess what your doctor meant by borrowed time is......well I dunno. According to my brother there was a young girl who had the same surgery as he did but she had 3 heart attacks while on the operating table and they brought her back each time. She's not doing that well yet. And another young girl, her body keeps rejecting her new lungs.

If my brother didn't have the surgery when he did the doctors said that he would only hace less than 2 yrs to live.

Does ur doctor plan on giving you bad lungs?</end quote></div>

Even if a doctor doesn't PLAN on giving you bad lungs, tx doesn't always work. Kudos for those of you who've had a tx and it worked wonders and you're still truckin', but it's not a magic fix-all. There's incidences of rejection, infection, etc. EVEN if you're 100% compliant, even if you think you can handle it, sometimes your body and your new lungs have something else in mind.

I'm not saying this to make anybody second-think a tx. If you want one, get one. Despite my having said all that, I will probably try for a tx one day. But you should be aware ahead of time, that it's not guaranteed that things will go perfectly. Very often, they don't. And it has nothing to do with a "positive attitude" or whether or not you're compliant (though compliancy helps, it doesn't guarantee you success post-tx), or whatever. Bad sh*t happens to good people all the time. It's not like smiling and thinking positively just makes all the bad sh* t go "Oh okay, this one's smiling, pass her over, let's go to the one frowning and make her reject instead." Nope, not how it works.

I'm sorry but I'm really tired of all the thinking like a positive attitude fixes all. I've known PLENTY of people who were incredibly positive, who fought really hard, and they still got screwed.

To the original poster, good luck with it. There's no expiration date. It's not like a carton of milk where the date shows up and you just chuck it. But new lungs, just like your old ones, will not last forever. The chances of new lungs giving you a "normal" lifespan are not good. But they will likely add a lot of time that you wouldn't otherwise have. It's a very personal decision that you need to think about carefully and make for yourself. Don't let anyone else make it for you. It's basically trading one disease for another. You are likely to live longer than you would without new lungs (and of course, this isn't guaranteed), but you'll have plenty of hardships to deal with in conjunction with the new lungs. <b>As long as you're making the decision yourself, FOR yourself, whichever way you go is the right one. If you still want a tx, then get one, do your best, and hope that it works. If you decide you don't, that's fine too. <i>(People don't like to hear that, but tx is a very personal decision and there's nothing wrong with turning it down if you've looked at it carefully and decided it's not right for you).</i> Just do whatever it is you know is RIGHT for YOU.</b>
 
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