Naps.  What can I say about naps.  Naps are so good and delicious!  Eli usually comes home during her lunch break and after cleaning herself well enough to be allowed on my bed, she lays out a towel for the pupper and we all just kinda chill/nap for about an hour.  I think naps should be mandatory!  Who is with me?

I can't lie.  I really miss being able to work in the yard.  It eventually became too difficult for me to manage the yard as my health declined, which made me really sad because that was one of the reasons for me to be so excited about buying this particular home and property.  It is five acres and there seems to always be something that needs to be done around here.  I miss it.  But Team Smith jumped right in and now I get to sit outside and visit with them while they do the work.  It isn't quite the same as getting my own hands dirty but I am thankful for my home team, they know how important my yard is to me!

Today Eli, mom and I had a four hour Zoom class about lung transplant with people from my care team at UW.  They sent info over beforehand so we had materials to go over.  Had to sign a few things.  And we listened to four hours of what transplant life is like.  It was incredibly informative and just renewed my excitement at the thought of life post transplant!

During the class they mentioned 'clubbing' of fingers and toes.  Which is something that happens when people live with low oxygen levels for long lengths of time.  I find it fascinating that my oxygen has anything to do with the size of my fingers and toes but I am constantly finding new things to amaze me about the human body.  Anyway, some people in the class found it interesting so I am sharing a few images but feel free to scroll on by - my little piggies aren't the funnest things to look at.  Especially now that they have huge clubs on the end of them.  Haha!

We had a successful day at UW today!  I had to do a pulmonary function test, which has never bothered me before.  But my lungs and my ability to breathe properly made this test incredibly uncomfortable and scary.  My oxygen saturation at this point hangs out in the mid 80s.  They tell most people anything below 88 and you should head straight to the emergency room.  Obviously my normal's are not on par with healthy people at this point.  But when I did the test they dipped to the low 70s which would be uncomfortable for anybody!  I felt like I was going to lost consciousness and at one point was so frightened that I was going to lose it that I began to cry - which isn't like me.  Needless to say I was happy to get it over and done with and see Dr. Raghu.  I tried to complete a 6 minute walk test but was unable to do the entire amount because they had me on 25lpm and I was still dipping into the low 70s so we quit a little early to allow me to recover.  Dr. Raghu reviewed everything and decided things are not moving fast enough for me, as I still had several appointments to get through and some of them were 6 or 7 weeks out.  So he left the room for a bit to speak to the director about my case and try to move some of those things up for me. We also had a serious talk about my current oxygen needs.  Dr. Raghu told me that I should begin the process to be admitted into a skilled nursing facility because he is worried that should I crash suddenly, I don't have access to the oxygen I would need to keep me alive.  Having your doctor discuss the possibility of a nursing facility is mind-boggling.  I can't even picture it.  So I've got some work to do when I get home to have the best possible set up at home to put everyone's minds at ease so I can stay home as long as possible.  Dr. Raghu's conversation with the director really got things going and I got a call before we even got to the ferry with the scheduler, she had all new and sooner appointments for me!  Soooo.... here we go!

I feel like the wheels have really started rolling with getting listed!  They scheduled me with several appointments at UW this week.  I'm meeting with with the Liver Transplant Surgeon this morning to go over what the liver transplant surgery looks like and have any of our questions answered.  The surgeon is very kind and soft spoken and was happy to answer our questions.  This afternoon I will be meeting with the UW Nutritionist to talk about diet dos and don'ts both before and after transplant.  This is the second time I have met with a nutritionist because insurance dictates that I must have that visit for liver transplant and a separate one for lung transplant.  Gotta love the system!  But it was good info and she was very nice.  We have decided to stay over in Seattle because we would be getting home so late and then have to be back in Seattle for a 7:45am appointment.  We picked a hotel with very strict guidelines about Covid and reviewed their cleaning procedures.  We also took our own sanitizing wipes and a UV light to disinfect all of the surfaces, just for good measure.  It was a clean room and we felt safe.  Early day tomorrow with Dr. Raghu!

I don't know what I would do without my momma.  I won't give away her age but lets just say I never thought in a million years my elder momma would be having to give me 24/7 care and basically run my household for me until I am well enough to do some of it on my own at this point in our lives.  I want to be the one taking care of HER, not the other way around!

My mom never, ever complains.  Ever.  She is always so strong.  She always knows what I need before I do.  She wakes up early to cook my favorite breakfast every day.  She does all of the cleaning, laundry and running around.  She should be enjoying retirement but her life is anything but relaxing.  She says she loves doing it and honestly I believe her.  But I can't wait for the day when we can BOTH relax and do things we enjoy together.  I will never be able to repay her for all she does not just for me, but my kiddos as well.  She is my rock and my hero and my very best friend.  I love you momma.

One of the things I need to complete to be considered for an organ transplant is to have a full oral evaluation done and a report sent to UW.  The funny thing about this particular requirement is that I already had this checked off my list, back in March.  But now so much time has passed while they wait to put me on the list, the dental clearance is no longer any good so I had to have another one done.

Today I really wasn't feeling well.  At all.  But I was determined to get this checked off my list and work my way closer to transplant.  So we loaded the car with lots and lots of oxygen tanks, dawned gloves,  masks and armed ourselves with buckets of sanitizer.  And off to the dentist we went!  I got my clearance, so YAY!  One more thing checked off the list.  Again.  Haha!