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Karin is not writing monthly updates while she is in the hospital since receiving her heart double-lung transplant on February 27, 2007. Current News and updates on her condition are being posted on the Transplant Central page.

Things have been pretty quiet here in Pittsburgh. I have been going to rehab at the hospital and it is much different than the one back home. I like it a lot better. More exercising is involved for the upper body. Other than that, I have just been hanging out at the house because I have had problems with the van. Thanks to my Uncle Bob for helping me with that situation.

I have been in touch with my transplant coordinator as required and she is working on getting me an exemption to send to UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing - the national transplant list I am registered with). My cardiologist, Dr. Mathier is writing a letter to say that I cannot be on a certain specific medication and that this should be taken in to consideration and I should be moved up on the list even more. Still waiting for word on the outcome so stay tuned until next month.

By the way, if you visit the UNOS web site http://www.unos.org/ you can see the current transplant status nationally. There are almost a hundred thousand people awaiting transplants of all kinds. Here is the status as of today, January 26, 2007:

Thanks to all that have sent me cards and prayers and if anyone has some ideas for fundraising please contact us (see button on the left side of the screen). We really need to get in gear and raise some more funds.

Thanks to everyone that called or sent their thoughts and prayers while I was in the hospital in December.

I had testing on the 4th, 5th, and 6th to update my status on the transplant list. I did worse on the tests than I did six months ago. My last appointment on the 6th was with my Cardiologist, Dr Mathier. They were just as concerned as I was that I gained 15 pounds within the past 6 months. So after much deliberation we decided to do a right heart catheterization to see what my pulmonary pressures were. That was scheduled for Monday, Dec. 11th. The plan was that if the pressures were high, that meant I was retaining a lot of fluid and I would have to stay in the hospital for a couple of days. Well, of course, my pressures were really high - I think higher than what they were expecting. Last year when I had a cath done the pressures were 95; this time they were 110, and according to the faces of the techs and doctors I saw, that is a very significant difference. So within an hour of the cath i had a big dose of diueretic (makes you visit the bathroom a LOT) and I began my "in-patient" stay.

In the meantime, there was talk of switching meds again and that is one thing I was hoping I wouldn't hear. The other med (which to me represents the last resort before there is no more they can do for me) is a permanent I.V. in your chest with the med administered 24 x 7. It is similiar to the med I had previously that was administered directly into my belly. But this one has to be kept cold all the time and it only has a half-life of 3 minutes. In the meantime, I slowly got rid of the fluid. By the 14th, my birthday, I was feeling much better but still had a bit of weight to get rid of and I was feeling very nauseous so they started to give me medicine for that, too.

Yes, I spent my birthday in the hospital again!! Brandon brought me a cake in the morning and also brought my dog Kola in to visit! Then in the evening my Gram, Aunt Joni, cousins Kristin, Bob, and Chelsea came with a cake. Less than five minutes later my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Jack showed up with another cake. It was great to have all those visitors.

Friday I continued to be nauseous and was throwing up and it continued through Saturday. So they decided they would do another cath on Monday. Sometimes when your heart isn't pumping enough blood your body will take blood from other organs, like your stomach, to compensate; and when your stomach isn't getting the blood it needs, it makes you sick. What a vicious cycle!!! Then on top of all that, every time I would stand up and move around my heart rate would increase to over 140 and all these alarms would go off and in runs my nurse. I felt fine, not light headed or dizzy, but it was bothersome. So they started me on a med for that and it worked pretty much right away.

So, finally by Sunday afternoon I felt better, not getting sick and my weight was down some more, but I think I was becoming a little depressed because I hadn't had company since Thursday. Monday came and they took me to have the cath, but I was still on Heparin ( a blood thinner) so they sent me back to my room because the Heparin had to be stopped for an hour or two before the cath. So I guess my docs then decided to cancel it altogether because I had been feeling better and they were really busy the rest of the day in the cath lab.

I had a surprise visitor - my Mom! She came and spent the day with me and we did arts and crafts, woo-hoo, and played cards. Seriously, I think it really helped to have company and the arts and crafts were fun. THANKS MOM!!! Then my Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Bob and Brittany came to see me too.

By Tuesday I was ready to "break out" of the hospital and the docs had the same idea. So my grandparents picked me up about 5:30. I went back to their place and ate dinner and got a nice hot shower then hit the bed!

The holiday was nice. Christmas Eve was a little depressing because it was very quiet. Brandon and I went for a car ride in the evening to Mt Washington to the overlooks of the city to see Pittaburgh all light up at night. We drove around to see the Christmas lights and churches all lit up. Very nice.

We spent Christmas Day at my Aunt Joni and Uncle Bob's and Mom and Dad came for the day. I did come back home with Brandon on Tuesday the 27th to spend New Year's Day at Mom and Dad's and then I will be heading back to Pittsburgh Monday evening to spend the winter there at my Grandparent's house. I need to be able to get to the hospital quickly even in bad winter weather, when I get called for the transplant.

I know this is a long update and I hope it makes sense. I feel like I ramble on sometimes! Happy New Year to all and may this be the year dreams come true!!

AN APPEAL FROM KARIN'S HEART ... AND LUNGS....

There has been something on my mind a lot lately and I would like to get it “off my chest”. It may not be my place to say something, but I have said it before and with some people it has gone in one ear and out the other. So I got to thinking that maybe I can reach out and help others, not just those few I have said something to in person.

To all you smokers....... Why do you do it? I will tell you what I told my three relatives: “Here I am waiting for a pair of healthy lungs and there you are ruining the pair that you have!!” Go ahead and make excuses if you want to, but to me there is no excuse. I know it is hard to try to quit - I understand that. But would you rather battle quitting or would you rather battle for your life like I have had to do for the past five years?? I wonder sometimes if I make it look too easy or if I should tell people how hard it really is sometimes. If it weren't for the 13 medications I am taking I know I would not be here right now. I would have been gone four years ago. I believe that - no, I KNOW that in my heart of hearts. Please listen to me: I think quitting would be a walk in the park compared to what I have to do some days, or I guess I should say the lack of what I can do. I can't walk 50 feet without getting short of breath; taking a shower and getting dressed wears me out; sometimes just talking makes me battle for every breath!

I would not wish this situation on my worst enemy. Honestly, I thank God that He chose me to go through this trying time and that it wasn't any of my family and friends. If I had to watch my parents or husband go through this battle I don't know if I could handle it!

With the new year coming up please consider a resolution to quit smoking – not just a good intention, but an actual plan of action. You don't have to rely on sheer will-power, there are a lot of things out there to help you quit – to help you while you break the habit – to break the addiction to the nicotine. Ask your doctor to prescribe the right medication for you to break the physical dependence; there are group programs offered by many hospitals that help with the psychological part of quitting; and I have read that many companies’ health benefits programs will pay for a big chunk of the treatments.

Like I said, I know it won't be easy and if you need someone to vent to some days, call me or email me. I am serious! What kind of person would I be to ask you to stop and then not offer support!! On those days that you feel like just giving up think, "What would Karin say?" or "I wonder what things Karin can't do today because of her bad lungs – why am I ruining mine needlessly by smoking?"

Here is to a happy, healthy new year!! Karin

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